Cursed
by GoldenPetal13
Summary: AU set in Season 2 during Furt. In which shapeshifters do exist and are called Cursed, they look and pass as human but aren't, their inner beast is always just under the surface. While accepted and registered by the Government they hide from the public.
1. Chapter 1

AU set in Season 2 during Furt. In which shapeshifters do exist and are called Cursed, they look and pass as human but aren't, their inner beast is always just under the surface. While accepted and registered by the Government they hide from the general populace and lay low.

Rated M.

Warnings: Will touch on harassment and there will be dub con elements throughout. Additional warnings at base of page. Don't like don't read, though constructive criticism is always welcome (plus any reviews).

I own nothing, literally.

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><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 1<strong>

Stomping loudly behind his dad Dave waits for the soft words that show how disappointed his dad is in him. He can smell dad's unhappiness coming off of him in waves, the air in the school corridor holding old stale scents from the day so dad's were nice and clear and crisp. God damn Acting Principle Sue freaking Sylvester, the bitch just expelled him, now the FBI and Homeland Security were gonna have to step in, he hates dealing with them, they make his head hurt.

Out in the parking lot Dave can't hear any heartbeats but he knows there are security cameras about and he has to keep pretending to be something he's not.

The beep from the car unlocking is loud in the night air and he gets in the front passenger seat without being asked. Staying hunched he sits miserably and waits for the lecture on what's expected of him, how he's literally the test case for his kind and if he can do this then others can too.

Starting the car his dad drives and turns away from the road that leads to their den but heads somewhere else, and then stops at the play park. Dave used to come here as a child and play-act at being a normal kid.

Opening the door his dad gets out and waits, Dave scrambles out and his heart starts beating wildly, what if his dad kicks him out? What if he thinks Dave isn't trying hard enough?

Worried he falls into step with the man beside him, and he can breathe in the clean air, no other heartbeats, no new human scents, and no cameras, here he can relax and be himself. His footfalls hush until he glides along making no sound. The darkness is not a problem for him and it's literally alive with insects, animals and birds. Dad trips and Dave catches him moving with lightening reflexes.

"Thank you," Dad says and pats his arm.

Going to the swings dad sits down and points to the swing next to him. Dave sits and swings gently, this used to be a mostly happy place. Sometimes mom and his sibs would bring him here after everyone else had gone to bed and he could play properly, leaping, jumping, and hunting.

Nervously he looks at his dad, the man is almost blind in the dark but then he is only human, shifting his dad turns to him and offers a smile he knows Dave will be able to see just fine.

"David, would you like to tell me your side of the story?" And there's no judgement there.

Relieved Dave fidgets, "Um, instinct?"

A soft sigh as deafening as thunder makes him flinch, "David that isn't a catch all excuse, you're not a tiny cubling anymore, you've hit your last growth spurt, and your mother has told me you're glands are leaking sexual pheromones," Dave winces, it's handy when you can pick up those kind of things, not so much when the rest of your family can too.

"Dad, really it's instinct. There's something about the whole Glee club, they're the lowest of low at the school, and Fancy's so tiny and girly, he smells of fear and pain, it's all I can do to just shove him and not attack him," he tries to explain. He can hear his dad's heart stop beating for a few seconds and then start again, faster, he's really fucked up if dad's reacting like this. He tries so hard to fit in with the kids, to be one of them, but it's difficult to ignore the dragon in him that wants to stalk the weaker ones and rip them to shreds.

Clearing his throat dad asks, "Can you smell the boy anywhere in the school? Even over the scents of the other pupils?"

"Um, yeah," Dave admits and his dad's heart kicks again, oh god what's wrong? What's he missing?

"And his heartbeat? Can you hear that too? Can you track him by his heartbeat alone?" And there's a thread of fear from his dad.

Thinking about it carefully Dave blinks in surprise, "Yeah, how did you know?" And it hits him, "Oh fuck, oh no dad no, it can't be, I'm too young, hell Fancy's way too young, this can't be happening."

"Well it is son," and dad leans over and pats his arm, squeezing Dave's shoulder his dad tries to be reassuring, "We'll all help you with this, and you are going to make a successful mating with this Hummel boy, this doesn't need to stop either of you, you can still go on to college and this could help you," now there's hope in his dad's voice.

"Yeah? How the hell is being tied down and mated at my age gonna help me?" He falls back on sarcasm.

"Aggression levels in mated Cursed drop," his dad says it slowly, "So think about how much easier it's going to be to pass as human, you might even be able to play a little sport in college instead of having to stand on the sidelines faking a bad sports injury so you won't kill anyone on the field by accident."

"I guess," and Dave can see how that could work. "But Hummel's scared of me, and you've always said when mom kidnapped you and tied you to the wall it almost destroyed any chance you two had, that it was like being caged against your will," Dave hates being caged. "Won't Fancy hate me when I take him away from his family?" He tries not to think about the fear and pain that comes off the boy in mouth-watering waves and he's glad it's dark so his dad can't see the boner he just got.

His dad goes quiet, thinking it through and trying to find a way to balance Dave's Cursed needs against a human's fragile body and feelings. Mom picked well when she mated this human, Dave's always been glad this man has been in his life, because of him they no longer hid, and Dave's sibs were mated well, his brother had even sired a child, a human child, but a child none the less.

Stirring his dad says, "David, you've shown more control than most Cursed and demonstrated an ability to act human, even going so far as to develop protective instincts for your family. Can you control the urge to mate for a few more months?"

"Um, I guess so," Dave frowns, "I mean I haven't raped him, I just push him around and act threatening."

"Act threatening? Or really threaten?" And dad lifts that eyebrow so Dave scuffs his heel.

"Really threaten, and once I kissed him but it was his fault for encroaching on my territory, and I swear the kiss was closed mouth, no tongue. Afterwards Kurt pushed me away, I wanted to kiss him again or hit him but I left," Dave's proud of that self control, of listening to Kurt's non verbal refusal, though thinking about it that should have been a clue he was sexually interested.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose his dad sighs again, "You kissed him?"

The whole story comes tumbling out and dad doesn't interrupt him once, he nods a few times and praises Dave for not sexually assaulting Kurt and also for not killing the boy who'd confronted Dave on the stairs, he tuts when he hears Dave admit to threatening to kill Kurt and he sighs when he hears about the later encounters.

"I kinda screwed up didn't I," Dave glares at a rock mad at himself.

"Kinda," dad agrees and Dave shrinks into himself, he hates it when his dad gets upset with him, he tries so damn hard to act human but he doesn't always understand. He knows that simply biting Kurt and then starting to mate with him is wrong, that Kurt will fight and scream, that it will hurt Kurt but he doesn't really get why, he's seen human's mate before and it seems to be instinctive, but then again he's seen human's pay to mate and the human offering up the service often fakes it and is disinterested. Humans are crazy in so many ways, and Kurt's instincts won't override his fear of Dave so their mating will be a bad experience for him and not the good one it should be.

Baffled as to how to get Kurt to want to mate with him Dave swings some more and hopes his dad can come up with a plan. Dad helped Marcus and Kitty win their human mates and they happily and enthusiastically mate everyday or every other day, humans could get tired very quickly and needed rests.

Bored he watches moths flit through the starlit air, autumn's here and soon the air will be too cold for their little bodies. Hmm that means Hummel, no Kurt, human's liked to be called by their first names, so that means Kurt will be wrapping up in extra layers and Dave wonders if the boy will wear more silly hats. Dave will have to act interested in the clothes that seem to fascinate the human so much, he's always reminded Dave of a colourful butterfly.

"Crap!" Dave swears.

"What is it David?" His dad is concerned.

"I just realised that by mating Hummel, I mean Kurt, I'm gonna have to pretend to be gay," he huffs annoyed, "The jocks are all homophobic for some reason even the ones that are gay. Well shit, that's gonna suck big time, those assholes will keep hassling me and they might pick on Kurt, if he's my mate I'll have to step up and protect him, do you think the cops will be okay if I kill a few of the jocks?"

Dad blinks a few times and opens his mouth and then closes it, a smile flickers on his face and then vanishes, "David what did we say when we talked about fighting in school?"

"Err not to kill people?" Dave scuffs his foot again, "But dad," he whines, "Kurt will be mine and I'm supposed to defend him aren't I?" He's confused again, humans were so freaking complicated sometimes. He doesn't give a shit about the boy apart from the fact that he'll get a mate, but mom, Marcus and Kitty had all come to care about their mates and he wants a mating like that, he wants to purr when he's petted, to wake up next to his mate, to make his mate happy.

And he'll get to fuck him on a regular basis, sure his hand was good enough to get off on but the way his family acted about mating he knew it would be better.

"Yes you should defend Kurt, well done David," and Dave's chest puffs out, "But killing the jocks will upset people, we'll think about how to handle them too."

"Thanks dad," Dave relaxes and swings some more. A stiff breeze blows through the park and his dad shivers, "Do you want my jacket?"

"Actually let's go home, I need Penny and Anton's help with this," Dad stands up, "It's too dark for me to see now, can you guide me to the car?"

"Sure," Dave leaps up and lets dad put a hand on his shoulder and he faithfully guides dad back to the car being careful to keep him away from trip hazards.

In the car dad backs up and they head to their lair. "Dad?"

"Yes David?"

"How come when other humans are in the dark they get scared but you're never scared?" He's curious, and he wants to know more about human fear so he can help Kurt overcome his so they can get to the mating.

"Because I have nothing to fear when you're there," Dad says simply.

"Oh," it doesn't help him with his problem but it makes him feel good, "Okay."

Pulling up and parking dad leaves the engine running and whispers, "Let me do the talking." Turning off the engine dad gets out and Dave happily follows along, mom takes bad news better from dad anyway, Dave's not really in the mood to flee through the woods and then to get beaten up when his mom catches him.

Walking into the big den, no he has to remember to call it a house, dad asks him, "Where are they all?"

Cocking his head to one side Dave listens, "The heartbeats are all at the back, probably in the main TV room," and he follows dad thought the maze of corridors.

Yep he was right they're all there.

Large comfy sofas are placed around the room so they can all see the TV, Anton had wired in surround sound so the humans can hear too, and Dave wants to be able to lounge on his own sofa with his head in Kurt's lap as his mate pets him.

Eyeing up Marcus who was doing just that he stifles his envy as Penny gently rubs that spot on Marcus' neck making Marcus purr loudly. And then their daughter Violet giggles and helps her mom pet her dad and Marcus purrs louder.

"Paul, my Sweet," mom's sprawled on her sofa and she blinks sleepy looking brown eyes at dad, "How did it go?" A wave of happy loving scent wafts from her to her mate.

"Diane," dad's voice is soft and his love for mom is written on his face and the scents he's now giving off. Yes they had a good mating. "We have a problem."

And mom growls those eyes turning gold as she stalks off the sofa, hiding behind dad Dave peeks out as she snarls, "What did he do?"

"Well he's expelled," dad says and then adds, "And he's mating the boy who's got him expelled."

That stops mom in her tracks, "He's mating?" Sniffing the air she walks up to Dave and shoves her nose against his skin, "I thought you'd just hit your last stage," she inhales more, "Hmm, you're a bit young, is the boy strong?"

"Yeah," Dave smiles, "He's been going toe to toe with the jocks for years."

"Hmm so we're going hunting tonight for your mate?" Mom asks as Kitty and Marcus slink towards us in growing excitement.

"No," dad says firmly, "There will be no hunting of the boy, this Hummel child is afraid of David, enough that he got him expelled, we need to come up with a plan."

"Fine," mom gives in, "You my Sweet and the other humans can come up with a way to help this boy accept his place as my son's mate, we're going out hunting so we can see him for ourselves."

"Di," dad warns.

"We won't be seen," she smiles hungrily, "I'm curious as to the boy who's scent has caught my son's attention."

"No kidnapping him," dad crosses his arms, "You saw how well Marcus and Kitty mated, how much easier it was for Penny and Anton, let's do the same for Kurt and David."

Making a rude noise mom glides over to dad, "Paul, you know it makes me unhappy that I made you unhappy during our own mating," she caresses dad's face, "we all agreed to do this your way," dad doesn't hear the muttered, "for now."

"Fine," and dad kisses mom on the mouth, "just be careful."

"Always," mom waves and we leave running through the den's halls silently.

Bursting out into the night they fall back and for the first time Dave leads the way, of course he knows where Kurt lives, and he quickly plans their route and lopes ahead of them. Behind him they fan out and they all scan the area as they move rapidly through Lima.

No one notices them and he loops around and comes at Kurt's den from the back, there's no need to call attention to them in the streetlamps that dot the road. Kurt's scent hits Dave and he growls longing to get in Kurt's face and to push him. Now he knows what it is he controls the urge and stops, leaning against a tree he stares at the house from the dark of the tree line.

Marcus sniffs the air and sneezes, "He's the softer smell?" And Dave nods, "He uses many products," which was a polite way of saying Kurt stinks.

"I know, you should see what he wears," Dave rolls his eyes, "Fancy loves strange clothes, one set made my eyes really tired."

Leaping into the tree mom settles herself down, "You've named him?"

"Yeah," Dave nods, and that must have been the giveaway his dad picked up on. "He feels like a Fancy to me."

They accept it and go back to watching the house. He knows it baffles dad that they can stand or crouch for hours when they hunt but have no patience for waiting and quickly get bored anywhere else.

"Did you bite him yet?" Mom asks.

"No I didn't even realise I was beginning to enter the mating cycle with him," Dave frowns, "I should have realised, I know all the signs. I singled him out, I stalked him, I pushed him around, I even accused him of sneaking in the locker room to peek at my junk."

"It happens," mom says, "Once, before I met and mated Marcus' sire, I mated a human, well I nearly mated a human," she sighs, "I didn't realise either, it was as if the thinking part of me turned off, I followed the woman, I entered her den and took her things or moved them, and when she panicked I was barely able to stop myself from pouncing. It wasn't until a horse bolted dragging a cart with it and ran her down so she died, that I realised the connection was the beginning of a mating bond."

He often forgets his mom grew up well over a hundred years ago, hell Marcus was coming up to his eightieth year. It sucked being just in his teens, but if he mated Kurt the chance of him mating later on were less, and if he made the kind of mating he wanted he'd pine to death after Kurt anyway.

Why the fuck did he have to choose Kurt? He wanted to wait until his twenties or thirties to mate, preferably someone younger than him. He had plans. Damn instincts ruining his life.

The back door bangs open and he sees Burt Hummel wander out, "Damn it Kurt I don't care if you're organising the wedding, that doesn't excuse you from your chores, now do the trash or I'll wear my old tux tomorrow."

"Dad!" An annoyed Kurt appears and huddles from the cold, "I'm trying to make your wedding a truly memorable moment in yours and Carole's life. The perfect start to a new life, for you both."

"I know that kiddo, and just think how great it's gonna be with no trash piling up inside," Burt points to the trash can, "Come on, I'd do it myself but you'd end up giving me a lecture for an hour on my heart and not overdoing it if I did."

Huffing the boy vanishes inside then reappears bundled up in some huge coat hauling a bag over his shoulder. Dumping it in the can he starts dragging it along the ground grumbling under his breath about what the cold wind was doing to his skin.

"I can give you a hand if you want," Burt watches his son struggling and Dave can smell a mixture of amusement and worry from the man.

"I've got it dad," Kurt says clearly not having got it at all.

"He's kinda scrawny," Kitty remarks.

"Not too short though," Marcus mentions.

"And you said he went up against the bigger, stronger kids at that school?" Mom asks.

"Yep, they pick on him everyday, he smells of fear and often of pain, but he won't back down from them," Dave realises he feels proud that his mate's so strong inside, and Kurt can leave the heavy stuff for Dave to handle from now on.

Putting the trash out Kurt skips up the drive and heads back in the warm. Outside Dave and his family stay for a few more hours listening to the household go to sleep.

Running back home Dave again takes the lead and almost dances in joy. He's coming to accept his mating, there's no point in fighting it, his instincts will have made the right choice.

Bounding into the building that's their den he picks up the sound of heartbeats and hunts them down. Dad, Penny and Anton are still talking, another human thing, why talk all the time? Little Violet was fast asleep in her mom's lap, Penny's arms tenderly cuddling her.

"You're back," dad smiles, "Did you have fun?"

They all nod and move closer, mom strokes dad's hair, "Did you come up with a plan?"

The three human's exchange glances and smell anxious, "You might not like it," dad says, "It might take time to win Kurt's interest in mating, and he's very young."

Balancing on the balls on his feet Dave shrugs, "It's kinda like hunting him then? But using human ways?"

"Exactly," Penny beams at him, "We'll speak to our agent handlers in the morning and start it moving. Paul says Kurt's dad's getting married so even though Kurt will be going through some big upheavals in his life he'll be thinking about marriage, it's as good a time as any."

Dave nods politely not really getting it, but if Kurt was more receptive to mating then that was a good thing.

They've decided to let Burt and Carole get married and then after the wedding to move in with agency back up and relocate the newly formed family into the Karofsky home here, that way Kurt wouldn't feel too alone and he'd have family to fall back on if the mating got too intense.

"Why?" Kitty frowns looking confused.

"From the rumours around town," dad explains, "Kurt's never had a boyfriend, this is a big moment for a human teen, yes most tend to throw it away these days but from what little I saw of Kurt he's not one of them, a mating is a very intense and physical time, he's going to need his own dad to help him deal with it. And now his dad is getting married it's easier to move the whole family here."

"Oh, okay," Kitty nods just as baffled as before, they all nod and pretend they understand.

Humans were so weird.

The meeting broke up and the humans went to bed, they needed a lot of sleep, Dave knows that Marcus and Kitty used to have to stay the whole night with their mates and fake sleeping, he sighs quietly, he's gonna be so fucking bored, but if it makes the mating easier on Kurt so the boy will pet him he'll do it.

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><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.

Additional warnings, Dave is a shapeshifter so at some point a dash of bestiality will come into the story, there will be touches of violence, homophobia (from the jocks at the very least), misunderstandings, dub con as I've already said, blood shed and I'm sure others as well as mentioned MPreg. Never non con.

As I've had such a positive feedback (thank you so much for your kind reviews) I've decided to post once a month (at the beginning of each month starting with chapter 2 in a few days) as this story is driving me crazy and wants to be written, and as with my other stories, this one won't be that short (why can't I write short stories, why?). Thank you and I hope you bear with me over the coming months, once I've finished I'll post the remaining chapters once a day for you (don't hold your breath this will take some time).


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry, had to reload from start :( but at least you can now read Chapter 2

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

Oh and I reloaded chapter one updating the warnings and author's notes for you.

I own nothing, literally.

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><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 2<strong>

Humming happily Kurt flicked through his wardrobe and lifted the next shirt down, carefully folding it he laid it reverently in the suitcase. The wedding had been a complete success; he was still adjusting to having a step mom but Carole was really nice, she listened to his advice and loved spa days too.

Even more importantly dad was happy and relaxed and smiling. Finn had publicly declared them brothers and he kept getting warm fuzzy feelings over that. All in all it had been an amazing day.

Getting another shirt Kurt carries on packing his clothes, dad and Carole had found a place it was nice. Kurt and Finn had battled over the bedrooms and Kurt got the nice one with the en suit, while Finn had been ecstatic that he got the one with the giant cupboard, privately Kurt's of the opinion Finn only wants the cupboard so he won't have to clean, he'll just stuff everything in the cupboard until it explodes.

Upstairs dad was packing up his own clothes, while Carole packed away the china and Finn wasn't allowed to touch anything. The last time Kurt had seen him Finn was goofing off with Puck who had 'volunteered' to help them move, which meant he was after a free meal.

They were only taking the bare essentials today; they had a week before the house was sold. Carole and Finn had already sold theirs and were living in the new house; dad and Kurt were joining them today.

Sadly he looks around his room, he's going to miss it, the big open spaces he can dance in, the giant walk in wardrobe, his sound system wired to surround him with music. Sighing he runs his hand down the wall and sits on his bed, he knows he'd have only been here a few more years before he escaped Lima for college, but it's still his.

And school, he's actually looking forward to it, because he'll never have to deal with Karofsky ever again. Plus there was Blaine, finally a boy he could look up to, even if Kurt was taller than him.

Going back to the wardrobe he carries on packing the bare essentials, his dad had grumbled but they'd negotiated just four big suitcases until Kurt could get the rest of his clothes, and Kurt had failed to mention the shopping trip he and Mercedes had planned for this weekend.

Someone knocks on the front door of the house and he ignores it to pack a pair of skinny jeans, then he has the unenviable task of picking out only ten pairs of boots or shoes, how was he supposed to choose?

In the end he pulls out far more than ten pairs and lines them up on the floor, he needs neutral pairs he can mix and match with as many of his outfits as possible. Bending down he drags two pairs out and then goes back to staring, just another eight to pick, maybe he can get dad to let him have a few extra pairs.

"Kurt!" Dad yells from the top of the stairs.

"Yes dad," he walks to the bottom of the stairs, "What's Finn broken now?" Honestly you couldn't trust him with anything breakable.

"Nothing, get up here we need to talk to you," and then he's gone.

Skipping up the stairs Kurt continues to turn the puzzle of what footwear to take over in his mind. Walking into the small living room it's full of people and he stops in surprise, then he see's Mr Karofsky, and standing behind the man is the boy he'd hoped he'd never see again.

Dave can smell Kurt everywhere, but it's a different scent, a happy scent. He sniffs it in and tries to be subtle about it. Burt Hummel's glaring at him and not bothering to hide his anger; Dave keeps his head down and acts submissive. And then Kurt drifts into the room, Dave can hear the boy's heart stop and then start beating wildly giving off so much fear, he's glad he's worn his loose jeans and a shirt untucked to cover the erection he's now sporting.

Mom's holding his hand and acting human but her hand tightens in warning, she's picked up his interest and he makes himself stand there seemingly ignoring Kurt.

Walking over to his dad Kurt glares at Karofsky, "What's going on?" There's a shorter woman the same height as Rachel holding the bully's hand, her hair is dark almost black and her eyes are a deep brown, she must be Paul's wife but she looks too young to be the jock's mother.

Leaning casually against a wall a tall lithe man with dark hair and ice blue eyes is staring at nothing. His arms are crossed and the facial features are like the woman's they must be related somehow.

Another woman with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail is standing beside the man, she's wearing some very fashionable glasses and they frame her bright green eyes nicely. She's smiling pleasantly and is watching him so Kurt drops his eyes and turns to his dad.

Carole, Finn and Puck are all sitting down and behind them are two more men, but this time in suits and they almost scream government the way they hold themselves. Either that or Kurt's been watching way too much TV, he blames Finn for that, the boy is a bad influence on him sometimes.

Nervously Kurt takes a step closer to his dad, something's wrong and he doesn't know what. Paul Karofsky clears his throat and smiles gently, he seems embarrassed and Kurt feels sorry for the man having a son like Karofsky, that kid is a monster who needs professional help. "Um Kurt, you might want to take a seat for this."

"I'm fine," Kurt crosses his arms and smiles with fake sweetness. The woman next to Karofsky huffs out a laugh.

"Diane," Paul smiles at her, she lifts an eyebrow and it's so clear that they're in love. Turning back Paul nods, "Fine then. I'm sorry this is so abrupt, but you and your family are welcome to join us in our house, you can rent out your new house or do whatever you want to do with it, it is yours after all. We want you to know that the option of staying with Kurt's always there." The man is so earnest.

"Not happening," Kurt's dad crosses his arms, "This was all sorted at the school, your son is coming no where near my son."

"Burt," Paul scolds softly, "I hadn't finished. The full situation is that my wife and children are all Cursed, and under Government Laws, and in the interest of security certain things can be made to happen," and Kurt stares in shock at the boy, the boy who's still staring at the floor and isn't running amok slaughtering everything in sight.

Dave keeps his eyes on the floor and he knows Kurt's family and friends are all staring at him, this is one reason he threatened Kurt, so his family's secret could be kept. The wave of fear and rage from all of them is intoxicating and he holds onto his calm and tries to block it out.

This was why his dad had insisted they all gorged themselves before coming over, he'd wanted them to give as good an impression as possible, and stuffed sated Cursed were less likely to attack and cause mayhem. Plus eating Kurt's dad might make Kurt hate him forever. Hiding his sigh Dave sticks to the plan and acts as non-threatening as possible.

Staring at them Kurt's snapped out of it when Finn asks, "What's that got to do with Kurt?" Though his new brother is staring at the Cursed more in curiosity than anything.

"Yeah, what about Kurt?" Puck's arms are crossed and he's glaring at Karofsky, Kurt can feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, if the bully is Cursed then no one in Kurt's family or circle of friends can fight him off.

"Kurt is David's mate," Paul says and Kurt's knees give way, his dad barely catches him in time.

"No," Kurt says in horror his whole world ripped out from under him. "No."

They'd prepared him for Kurt's utter rejection but Dave still found it hurt a little, this is why when human mates were kidnapped they were normally chained up until they gave in to the inevitable. Though Penny and Anton had come willingly enough, he just had to be patient and change his hunting pattern to get his prey.

Trembling Kurt clings to his dad and just wants this all to go away. Karofsky was supposed to be out of his life. Kurt was supposed to get Blaine to fall in love with him. Kurt was supposed to stand on Broadway and be a star leaving Lima far behind him. He wasn't supposed to be forced to live with a monster.

Gagging he bolts for the toilet and vomits his dinner up. And he was just starting to eat properly again too.

"Kurt," Carole's there and she strokes his hair gently as he empties his stomach.

His mate was not taking this well and Dave can hear him throwing up in the toilet, which was worrying as Kurt had already lost a lot of weight, he really needed to put the weight on.

"Are you sure this is the one?" Mom asks under her breath too softly for the humans in the room to hear.

A snort from Marcus who doesn't smell impressed and a sigh from Kitty who's bored. So far Kurt wasn't making a good impression on Dave's family, he grits his teeth and double checks his instinct, "Yes," he murmurs back.

"Hmm, he doesn't seem as…" Mom pauses, "Strong as you described him, he appears to be very fragile," which was a very polite way of her saying Kurt was coming across as weak.

"He's normally strong in school," Dave offers and listens to the toilet flushing.

The washcloth is cold on his flushed face and Kurt leans weakly against the sink. He knows the rumours, families slaughtered, mates raped. He's also not gullible enough to believe the Government cover up theories that are bandied about. Facts are facts and since the Cursed were accepted and even integrated twelve years ago the number of deaths by Cursed had dropped significantly.

He also knows that by agreeing to be Karofsky's mate and letting the Cursed do what he wants to him he can save peoples' lives. His own family's for a start, if dad tries to defend him the jock could slice him to ribbons in seconds and Kurt's only just begun to recover from the shock of nearly losing his dad, he can't lose him now.

Carole's still holding him and rubbing her hand on his back, when their eyes meet in the mirror her face tries to be reassuring but he can see the fear she's hiding from him. Oh merciful Prada they could slaughter Carole, Finn, even Puck if any of them got in the Cursed's way.

One historical battle had a single Cursed taking out over a hundred soldiers in an hour, and that Cursed was toying with them for fun. They were almost unstoppable forces of nature, the amount of damage and mangled bodies they left behind were incredible, he might hate Lima but he can't do that to the town.

Huddling in Carole's arms for a little longer he pulls himself together and goes to meet his doom. Suddenly the stories about humans going missing and turning up eviscerated and sexually assaulted while law enforcement did nothing didn't seem so far fetched, at least his family would have a body to bury, now he just has to convince Finn to help look after his dad when Kurt's gone.

Dragging his feet into the lounge he stands up straight and stares into Paul Karofsky's eyes, "Okay."

He can hear his sibs and mom hiss in surprise and hides a smile, though they'll still smell his amusement at their reactions, he'd told them his little mate was stronger than he looked.

"No," dad surges forward and pushes Kurt behind him, hanging onto his dad as he gets knocked off balanced he's horrified when his dad says, "Over my dead body," because with four Cursed in the room he's fairly certain that can be arranged.

"Burt…" Mr Karofsky tries to say something.

"No Paul," his dad growls threateningly and Kurt's almost convinced he's going to attack the man which will be a very bad idea so Kurt latches onto his dad's arm, "You listen. That boy over there threatened my kid. He's terrified my son, and now you want me to just hand Kurt over and walk away so that monster you spawned can assault my little boy whenever he wants to?"

"Burt!" Carole steps in. Dad tries to shake her off but with two of us he's pushed back a little. "Burt think about this," she appeals to him. "We don't have a lot of choice in the matter. At least they're asking nicely and not just stealing Kurt away from us."

"Listen to her dad," Kurt begs and wishes his dad could do something but he knows deep down there isn't, he's on his own for this one.

"There's no friggin way you're taking my son from me," and Kurt can see his dad's not going to back down on this.

"Burt," Finn says unhappily, "They said we could live with them, that we could be there for Kurt, I want to be there for my bro."

"Mr Hummel," it's one of the suits, "You might want to take into consideration that we have papers we can serve you that will make Kurt the Karofskys' foster son and will terminate all of your parental rights."

"I can take him and run," dad glares at the guy.

"Mr Hummel you would then become a hunted fugitive, Kurt would be found and returned into the Karofskys' care and Kurt WILL become Dave's mate. You would end up in jail and all parental rights terminated, it will only buy time and make it harder for Kurt in the end," the suit spells out coldly. "Also if you run, Dave's natural instinct is to chase, if his family can't contain him he may come after you himself as the mating urge overpowers him and you might not come out of this alive." It's stark and cruel and Kurt hates the man for it but it's what his dad needs to hear.

Falling into the nearest chair his dad drags him into a hug and they end up comforting each other, "Kiddo," he can hear the regret in his dad's voice.

"It's okay dad, really," Kurt lies.

His mate is lying to his own dad. The boy who will be his is upset and resigned, he really doesn't like the idea of becoming Dave's mate. This was going to be a very long hunt and he hopes he has the patience to behave himself the whole time.

He watches Finn's mom move over to hug his mate and touch her new husband's arm. "What happens next?" She asks.

Dad smiles softly, "Now you have the option of Kurt leaving with us in the next few minutes. I assure you we'll take good care of him and you can visit him whenever you want to. And we'll keep an eye on him as he and David start the mating ritual. Or..." Clever dad sets the bait up for them and he watches as Burt pounces.

"Or..." dad asks and Kurt hopes this option is better.

Paul offers, "Or you can pack up your clothes and things and you all move in with us, we have a nice family suite or two you can settle into as Kurt and David start the mating ritual. I really hope you pick this one because Kurt's very young and he's going to need you with him as he makes this transition," he really wishes there was a third option of 'no mating go free' and his hands tighten onto his dad hoping for option number two. As much as he doesn't want the Cursed anywhere near his family he doesn't want to do this alone.

"We're going," Finn says firmly, "I'm not leaving Kurt to do this on his own," and he can feel a sappy smile slide over his face at Finn's declaration.

Heaving a defeated sigh his dad looks up at Carole who nods, "Fine we're moving in with you."

The other suit starts talking into a radio, "Right Mr and Mrs Hummel we'll have a moving van and staff here within the hour, please feel free to direct them as you see fit, if you're not ready to make the big decisions yet and you need time then we can store anything or come back later for any of your things for you."

"We'll take clothes for now," Finn takes charge after the rest of us stand there blankly unable to decide anything, "We can move other stuff after," he turns to Paul Karofsky, "Mr K we have beds and stuff right?"

"Yes Finn, the rooms already have furniture but you can move your own things in if you want to," Paul informs him.

"Right then, clothes and school stuff it is," Finn nods to the suit whose mouth twitches but he makes the call. "Now what?"

"Now we talk about how we get the school used to David being gay and then after Christmas David and Kurt will publicly date. This should then be fine up to graduation at the end of Senior year and then we're going to have discuss which college they go to, since they'll have to go to the same one," Paul drops that one in and Kurt can feel his jaw drop too.

"I can go to college?" Weren't they going to lock him away in a dark dank place?

Shocked Paul stares, "Of course you can go to college, unless you don't want to?"

"Oh I want to," Kurt replies floundering.

"Kurt this is going to be a huge change in your life," Paul says, "There're going to be massive adjustments you're going to have to make, but we want you to have as normal a life as possible. And then when the two of you have settled down you can get David pregnant and have cublings of your own."

"Pregnant?" Dad stares at Paul.

"Congratulations Burt, one day you'll be a grandfather," Paul grins, "David is quite capable of carrying children, part of the peculiarities of being Cursed."

They're all staring at Karofsky who's still staring at the floor when Finn suddenly says, "Wait, you said come out as gay. At McKinley? Dude they're gonna kill you," the last is said to the jock.

Since Finn's spoken directly to him Dave lifts his head up and rolls his eyes at his future brother in law, "I know, dad doesn't believe me about just how homophobic those idiots are, even the gay ones."

"David," dad says, "We'll find a way to get them to accept you and still let you play sports," like that's gonna happen.

"I still think you should let me put a couple of them in hospital so the rest back off, 'coz if they come at me with baseball bats or something, it's gonna be freaking obvious I'm not human, plus you know I'll fight back," he tries to reason with his dad.

"He's got a point," Finn agrees with him, "They're really anti gay, some of it's 'coz they just don't think, and I'm lucky I got a chance to know Kurt, but they'll just go for Dave." The boy's face screws up in thought, "Hey you could join Glee, we could have your back in school."

"No fucking way," he says, "I'm not joining you losers," he was losing most of his social standing because of his mate he wasn't committing complete social suicide by being a Gleek too.

"Don't be hasty David," dad says and Dave shakes his head, "I know you've said they have the lowest social standing, but it would give a very good cover story on how you and Kurt become boyfriends."

Horrified he whimpers, "But dad I'll be the lowest on the food chain, don't make me do this, please," he begs.

Mom hisses at dad and even Marcus and Kitty are upset, "Paul my Sweet, I want this mating to go smoothly, I want the boy to be happy but you go too far!"

Calmly dad stares her down, "Diane high school is not the real world, it's a fake social standing only, outside of school David will continue to have a high social standing, he's still a top predator."

It's not calming mom down, "You and the Government have talked us into sending him to school, he struggles to pretend to be human and now you punish him by making him give up his status," she points at Kurt, "That boy has chosen to join this Glee club and has chosen to be the lowest of the low, he should be thankful my son wants him." Wide-eyed Kurt's watching her in shock. "Why should my son sacrifice that!"

"Hey," and Finn sits up, "Is that why you pick on us so much? Some animal instinct thing?"

And Dave just wants to hit the guy because now his mom is focusing on the big helpless doofus, "Yes, Finn Hudson that is why, our instinct calls you weak and the weak are culled from the herd," she growls.

"Oh, thanks," and the idiot smiles at her, it's kinda fun to observe mom blink in the face of the good-natured force that is Finn Hudson. "It helps explain a few things, sorry man I thought you were just being a dick," he says to Dave and Dave fights off a smile.

"S'Cool," he shrugs and he can see his dad is just as confused by Finn, he's spent years being confused by Finn, it's fun to see others in the same predicament.

"But you're all wrong, we're not the lowest of the low, and you must have seen how rock stars are treated so well, they're the highest of the high," Finn's leaning forward and being so earnest as he stares mom down. "The kids in our school are so caught up in their tiny little worlds they don't understand how they're hurting themselves and one day our names are going to up in lights and they're going to be stuck doing menial stuff never making it anywhere in their lives."

Mom's nodding along with the boy and then she blinks and shakes her head as she tries to get out of the hold Hudson can get you in, you often find yourself following him just to see what happens next. "I'm not sure," she hedges.

Smiling that dumb smile Hudson goes for the kill, "But Mrs K, you say we're weak, that all the kids pick on us because of it, but we've never backed down, we keep going regardless, we don't just stop and whine it's too hard, we work harder, we rise to the challenges, we conquer," and that last bit has caught mom's attention.

"Conquer…" she trails off thinking, oh god he's so fucking screwed.

"Plus chicks totally dig musicians," Puck adds, "Serious babe magnet bonuses are added."

He can't help the face palm as he whines, "I'm joining Glee club aren't I."

"Perhaps I was hasty," mom says, "We know humans can be strange but I have observed their addiction to this music, and it would give you a chance to be with your mate and to bond over a common interest," why can't the common interest be them naked? Or video games? Why does it have to be humiliating him in front of the whole fucking school and killing his rep stone dead?

No. Why does Karofsky have to join Glee club? It was his. It was supposed to be a safe place well away from the bullies. Now he'd not only have to live with Karofsky he'd have to share his beloved Glee club too.

"So that's all settled then," Paul smiles and Kurt can feel the walls closing in on him, he's trapped.

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><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.


	3. Chapter 3

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

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><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 3<strong>

It had taken a depressingly short amount of time for Kurt to pack his suitcases; the threat of four Cursed standing in his home had him hurrying through it. Strangely picking his shoes and boots out had been easy too.

Puck wanders down the stairs and Kurt stares at him trying to school his features to hide the fact that he's terrified and is only getting through this by ignoring the giant scary murderous elephant in the room.

Eyeing him up the mowhawked boy gives him an awkward one armed hug, "Look Hummel what ever you do, relax, try not to tense up when it happens," and Kurt realises this boy's trying to comfort him about the fact he's going to be raped soon.

Trembling he starts sobbing and the arm around him tightens, "Fuck, if I could do something man I would, I used to be one of those dicks that made your life hell, I'm really glad I got the chance to know you, but this isn't the end of the world you can survive it," it makes Kurt feel sick with horror. "You know they give out those educational leaflets and shit, I snuck one about Cursed, it's not as bad as you're imagining it to be."

"Puck I'm being forced to live with the boy who bullied me so badly I thought about running away, and it turns out the boy's a monster who's going to attack me, how can it not be as bad as I'm imagining it to be," he throws it back using his anger as a shield.

Leading Kurt over to the bed Puck makes him sit down and then Kurt's staring into those eyes that are warm to him for the first time ever, "Dude you are so wrong, Karofsky's not gonna attack you, he's gotta bite you first."

Pulling back he huddles, "Bite me?" This was going from bad to worse.

"Yeah, his bite will release some kinda special stuff into your body, you'll be feverish but after that you'll be fine. To his nose your body'll start giving off this scent that will calm him down, make him more rational around you, it will give him control."

Control? That's good isn't it? A more in control and rational Karofsky would be gentler wouldn't he?

"Plus all Cursed have these gland things, they act like an aphrodisiac or something to humans so you'll want him to touch you, to do certain things to you," and it's all strayed back in a direction Kurt simply doesn't want to think about, he wanted romance and a long drawn out courtship, he wanted to hold hands and to feel like the most treasured being on the face of the planet.

"Kurt if you can get him to fall in love with you he won't hurt you, he won't be capable of hurting you," and Kurt really can't believe that because Karofsky has absolutely no trouble pushing him around and hurting him. "Don't give me that look, he's not in love with you yet, once he is he'll want to make you happy, he'll follow you round like a puppy and you just have to find the right spot on his neck and he'll purr."

"Purr?" It's getting to be too much and Kurt's not sure how much more he can take.

"Yep, purr, like a frecking cat. Make him purr and he'll be putty in your hands," Puck pats him on the shoulder, "You need a moment or do you want help with your bags?"

"Um bags would be good," he knows his smile is weak and he gets two of the suitcases with Puck getting the other two. Tromping up the stairs he hangs onto Puck's words, maybe he can get through this somehow.

It's dead silent in the living room only Burt's missing so Dave can clearly hear Puckerman's little speech to Kurt in the basement. The kid got most of it right and Kurt's heartbeat settled down a bit so maybe this would go better than the complete disaster Dave's now convinced it's going to become. The Gleeks tended to make things worse and over dramatised everything.

Finn and Carole are both staring at him. Carole in fear, Finn in curiosity but then he doesn't know if Finn's smart enough to be scared of him or not.

Footsteps on the basement stairs and he looks up to see Kurt and Puck carrying the suitcases Kurt needs for the time being until the rest of his stuff can be picked up. He's a bit baffled as to why Kurt needs so many clothes but he guesses it's something he'll have to get used to about his new mate.

Burt's soon there with just one suitcase, and he's bigger than Kurt and has packed less clothes, sighing quietly Dave decides to wait and ask Penny later about it, at least Kurt should come to like the surprise they'd made him.

"Right," Dad steps forward and keeps being calm and outwardly relaxed, "The transport's here, it won't be long and we'll all be home," he's trying to be cheerful, but Dave can see and smell Kurt wants to be just about anywhere but there, Puck's nervous but protective, Finn's protective, Carole's afraid and protective and Burt's angry and protective. Awesome.

Only Marcus and Kitty smell happy and that's because they get to go back to their den and see their mates again. He wonders if things will ever be good enough between him and Kurt for him to want to go home to his mate, or if Kurt will just rig some kinda bear trap for him.

Marching outside they all clamber into the minibus that one of the FBI is driving for them. The suitcases are loaded up and one of the agents is arranging for all the rest of the clothes to be packed up and sent over, including Finn and Carole's. Dad makes sure that Kurt is seated near Dave but puts Finn between them, which is weird until he notices Kurt relaxing, ah clever dad's making Kurt more comfortable.

Pressing into Finn he really wants to wake up right now, he wants this nightmare to be over. He heard them talking about packing his clothes up and he doesn't even have the energy to bitch them out and make sure they don't crease anything.

The minibus rumbles to life and he starts to panic again. Finn's hand slides into his and he clings on trying to act like everything's fine. That he isn't being dragged off to some horrible horror movie type house. He wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to have storm clouds in permanent residence over it and a creepy yard.

It's silent the whole way and Kurt's glad, he isn't in the mood for talk, he keeps running Puck's pep talk through his head, that Karofsky isn't going to sexually assault him that he was going to be bitten instead and somehow that will make Karofsky calmer.

Frankly it sounds stupid but then so is the fact that Paul seemed so confident that he was capable of getting Karofsky pregnant. They're both guys and Kurt's long given up the idea he'll have kids, ever since he pieced together the fact he liked boys that way far more than he liked girls even if it took him years to come to terms with the truth that it made him gay.

"We're nearly there," Paul calls out cheerfully and Kurt presses into Finn but he does peek out of the window and they're travelling up a wide gravelled and wooded drive that opens up to an enormous house, that can't be right can it?

"You bought the old hotel," Carole sounds as shocked as he feels.

"Yes," Paul's telling her, "You probably know it was gutted about thirty years ago, we bought it when we relocated to Lima and had it fixed up, we even kept all of the original owners little quirks. It's a bit of a maze inside but it's home and we always have room for guests."

They have room for guests and then a lot of room left over. It's a five-story building, and it's wide and sprawling. Kurt thinks he can remember stories about the crazy old man who built it sinking his whole life savings into having it built, he'd been convinced Lima would need a huge hotel and that it would make him lots of money, he'd died just days after it was finished and with no heirs it had fallen into rack and ruin for decades until it burned down long before Kurt was born.

Pulling up outside at the huge entrance the minibus stops and they have to disembark. Still holding Finn's hand he gets out and stares at the beautiful building, if they restored it from the shell it had been they've done an amazing job, it really was breathtaking and without a storm cloud in sight.

Walking up the few stairs Paul turns around and says, "Welcome to the Dragon Inn, I hope you'll like it here."

"Dragon Inn?" Puck asks.

"Our Primary form is that of a dragon," the man who hasn't been introduced or spoken yet says, his voice is deep and annoyingly pleasant.

Whistling Puck seems impressed, "Dude…"

It makes the four Cursed smile, clearly this is important, he'll have to ask Puck about it later, if there is a later.

They all step forward and begin to climb the stairs.

The foyer is simply magnificent, airy, and light, with arching staircases that lead up and numerous exits around the walls. In the floor is a giant mosaic of a golden dragon springing forward and up.

Everything is tastefully done in matching wood and glancing up he can see an exquisite chandelier dripping with crystals and glass. This place is nothing like Kurt was expecting, it makes the house they were moving to look like a hovel, a poor hovel.

Running footsteps and small child bursts into the room giggling and running straight for the blue-eyed man, "DADDY!" She shrieks and launches herself at him. The man moves unbelievably fast and catches her throwing her up in the air, which only makes her laugh harder.

Cuddling into the man she kisses his cheek not the slightest bit scared of him, she has the same hair and those striking pale blue eyes. She's wearing a pretty violet coloured dress and he thinks she might be about five, but he's not really been around children enough to know for sure.

Wiggling to be let down she skips over to Paul and the woman he'd called Diane, "Hello Granddad, Hello Grandmama," she gets hugs from them and then she's by the other woman with the glasses, "Aunty Kitty," another hug is bestowed on her and she goes to towards Karofsky with a bright, "Unca Davie."

Karofsky holds his hands up and backs away from the little girl, "Sorry Vi, mating, remember?"

Stopping the girl stamps her foot and then nods, "Okay Unca Davie, but I can have a hug after you've bitten your new mate?"

Going down one knee the big burly and scary jock nods and smiles, "Deal."

Clapping and happy at getting her way the little girl turns and stares at the rest of them, "Hi I'm Violet Karofsky." In a really loud stage whisper she asks, "Unca Davie which one is he?"

And 'Unca Davie' is struggling to hide a smile as he whispers back just as loudly, "The boy standing in the middle with the blue and green eyes."

Suddenly Kurt's under the scrutiny of a child and she strides forward to stare up at him, holding her arms out she says, "Up," and at a loss of what to do Kurt picks her up. She's lighter than he realised and she latches onto him to be pulled closer.

Those pale blue eyes catch his and then she blinks and says, "Your eyes are really pretty Unca Kurt," he's stunned and she throws her arms around his neck so trustingly. Whispering into his ear she tells him, "It's okay Unca Kurt," then she wiggles so he lets her down.

Finn's next and she makes the obvious comment, "You're so tall. Don't you hit your head on things?"

"Some times," his brother agrees which means most of the time. "I'm Finn," and they very formally shake hands then she's by Puck and he ends up making her giggle, Kurt always forgets the boy has a little sister.

Dad and Carole seem to fluster her because she doesn't know what to call them and settles on Unca Burt and Aunty Carole.

"Does mommy know where you are?" The blue-eyed man asks her and she sulks shaking her head, "Don't you think you should go and let her know you're okay?"

"'Kay daddy," she huffs and then she's running back the way she came yelling, "Mommy! Mommy! I met Unca Kurt and he's nice. He gave me a hug! Mommy!"

Snorting the man shakes his head, "To think I once thought having a human child would be an annoyance instead of the joy it is," he smiles at Paul, "Thanks dad."

"I'm just glad you're so happy Marcus," Paul smiles back, "Children are hard work but completely worth it."

Nothing is happening as Kurt's imagination had thought it would. In fact it's been pleasant, and the little girl hadn't been afraid, in fact she'd been fearless and trusting.

"Right the main elevator's this way," Paul points and as Kurt goes to grab his bags Karofsky clears his throat.

"Um, the elevator isn't big enough to take everyone and the suitcases, I can take those if you want," the jock is staring at his feet again and Kurt puts the suitcases back down wondering how one person can take them all.

"Thank you David," Paul's smiling at his son, "We'll meet you up there."

And then Kurt and his family, and Puck who's along for the ride, walk over to the side and the promised elevator. Inside it's just as tastefully decorated and he watches Paul tap the '5' button.

Heaving an audible sigh Dave grabs the suitcases and he still can't work out what Kurt could possibly need with all this when his things would be here in just a few days anyway.

Kitty and Marcus nod to him and sprint off towards the back, his mom pats his arm, "Good luck my son, and remember patience will gain you faster the mate you have so desired," and then she's sprinting off.

Easy for her to say, she's not the one that has to deal with Kurt.

Running up the stairs Dave can hear the elevator rumbling up slowly. The humans were so strange, they liked to use the closed in boxes instead of stairs, but then they were slow themselves so the slow box made no difference.

By the third level he's overtaken them and he jumps over the last banister, he has just enough time to put the suitcases down and stare at his feet trying to be harmless, when all he wants to do is snag his mate and lock them in his den so they can be alone.

The doors to the elevator open and he can hear Carole gasp when she notices him standing there. The others react and their heartbeats speed up then calm a little. More fear wafts from Kurt and it's such a heady perfume he wants to bury his nose into that skin and bite.

Thinking about knitting he counts in his head and the urge begins to fade, "Thank you David," Dad's saying, "And if you follow this way," he gets them to move until they're at the door to David's den.

Opening the doors dad steps back, "And this will be Kurt's room to share with David from now on, unless Kurt really hates it, then he and David can negotiate about a new set of rooms."

"Wait I have to share a room with him?" Kurt points at Karofsky and suddenly the nightmare is back to being real.

"Yes Kurt, I know you're not ready to be David's mate, not properly, but this way you're scent will mix with his and his dragon will calm down so you can get to know each other," Paul gives him a sympathetic look and Kurt wonders how far he can run before Karofsky catches him and drags him back.

Probably not very far at all.

His dad looks thunderous and Kurt's afraid of what will happen so he steps forward into a huge long room with two big magnificent windows that appear to open out onto a balcony. Comfy chairs and a few big sofas dot the room that's painted a very pleasant green. The floor is a dark natural wood, and three smaller chandeliers hang down with other wall-mounted lights spaced out along the walls.

To the right is a magnificent fireplace dominating the area, to his left running along the long inner wall were various systems including the biggest TV screen he'd ever seen in his life. Between the two windows is a large painting of a forest scene and scattered about the room were beautiful quilts made of various greens, browns and yellows and they seemed to be stitched with gold thread.

At the far end to his left was another pair of double doors that were currently closed. So far Kurt's impressed, he doesn't want to be, but whoever decorated had done so with fantastic taste.

"Dude," Finn of course wanders straight in and starts to poke about, "This room is awesome."

"Thanks," Dave's still staring at his feet, "I liked putting it together."

"Wait, you did all this?" Kurt's shocked.

Glancing up at him Dave gives him a shy smile and then goes back to staring at the floor, "Well mom and Kitty did the quilts, and Marcus did the painting hanging on the wall, and everyone helped but I picked the colours and shit like that."

Kurt smells impressed and his heartbeat is slowing again. His mate likes the den Dave's put together. He hadn't understood why he was so driven to redecorate but he must have been nesting waiting for him and Kurt to grow up enough to mate.

He catches dad's eye and dad gives him an encouraging look and smells optimistic.

Hudson is hovering by the very expensive entertainment stuff and he really hopes the klutz doesn't break anything. And then the idiot is grinning, "Dude you have Harry Potter films!"

"Yeah," he shrugs "They're good." Not that his so called friends would understand but the books were good and the films weren't too bad. Kurt's looking at him again and smells surprised. They'd explained that Kurt being curious about him was good and not doing bad things would make Kurt more curious, any good surprises were good too.

Humans were so fucking weird, but he'd heard so many stories about Cursed mating each other he's glad he's mating a human, it'll be far more peaceful and once the cubling was born they wouldn't try to kill each other, they could raise the cubling and then have further cublings together.

"Um, would you like to see more?" He asks softly and Kurt nods, so taking that as a good sign he walks slowly to the double doors, "The bedroom's through here," and Kurt's afraid again, Dave hides his swallow and doesn't break stride.

Nudging the door open he goes inside and waits for Kurt to join him, he bites his lip and hopes his mate likes this room too.

Finn walks over and holds his hand, Kurt gathers his courage and walks hesitantly to the doors that are looming in his mind. He wants to run but he daren't in case his family have to pay the price.

Reaching out with a shaking hand he pushes the door further and he steps into a room that's half the length of the last one, which still makes it huge.

His eyes are drawn to the left where the giant four-poster bed tastefully sits. It's dark wood again, with green and yellow velvet hangings and the bedspread is green and yellow.

The walls of the room are a lighter green, the floor is still natural wood but has green and yellow patterned rugs. One big window is to his right and there's another balcony beyond it.

Straight ahead is another big window, with a balcony and it looks out onto the forest at the back. A doorway sits to the left past the bed, and another in the corner ahead and to the right; that was strange there shouldn't be a room there.

Another chandelier with matching wall lights would provide illumination, and there were carved bedside cabinets. He can't see any wardrobes and has a sinking feeling that he's about to lose all of his beautiful clothes.

Karofsky has put the suitcases down, even his dad's, near a chaise long, and walks over to the corner door, "The bathroom is this way."

Intrigued Kurt drags Finn with him and goes to explore. It's a round tower room about half the size of the bedroom, which means the large sunken bath at the far end fits in nicely as does the big shower unit with fixed glass door.

Puck wanders in with a whistles, "Dude that bath is obscenely big, I could get half the cheerios in there," he turns and gives Karofsky a hopeful look. Kurt has to resist strangling the boy.

"Dude, don't look at me, it's not just my bathroom, it belongs to Kurt too, and if it were up to me, hell no, ew," Karofsky's face has twisted up and he seems horrified at the thought of the cheerios and Puck getting naked in his giant bath.

The Cursed boy reaches out and turns the lights on and Kurt can't help but gasp, whoever has done the lighting has made it so the light shimmers down and plays on the wood flooring like it does under water, the ripple effect is amazing and the tiles on the walls that looked plain and white magnify the whole thing until he's staring around in wonder.

"Whoa," even Puck's stunned.

His mate and his mate's family and friend seem happy with the indoor bathing facilities in his den, no, it's their den now. Pleased he turns the light out and trails over to the other door by the bed, he's nervous his mate won't like the gift he thought of for him.

Light show over with Kurt blinks and turns to see Karofsky go to the other door. Clutching Finn like a lucky charm or some kind of security blanket he walks back into the bedroom, where his dad is glaring at the bed as if he could somehow destroy it with pure thought alone.

Opening the door the jock vanishes into another room, Kurt can just make out sunlight streaming in. Venturing inside he finds yet another room as big as the bedroom and the size of everything is dizzying when he's only ever lived in a small house, he'd thought his basement was big.

This room is blue and it looks like someone painted clouds on the wall, a big bay window looks out onto the balcony and there is seating cut in two down the middle but Kurt can easily see himself lounging on one of those seats and reading as he enjoys the magnificent view of the woods and the garden he can now see is laid out behind the hotel.

Bookshelves fill the back of the room and they're about three quarters full, a giant desk almost fills another wall with the biggest comfiest leather chair he's ever seen, as well as a sleek modern computer perched close for use.

Behind him the free wall has a few closed off cupboards and he itches to open them but stays close to Finn.

"That's a lot of books," Finn's eyeing them up.

"They're my favourites," Karofsky seems bashful and scuffs his foot. Moving to another door Kurt can't help thinking the doors never end.

"And this last room is mostly for Kurt, you'll need to decorate it however you want, I thought you'd prefer to set it up to your own tastes," the boy stands there and waves them through.

It's a bit bigger than the bedroom and it's echoingly empty, a lone wardrobe stands off to one side. Confused Kurt turns to Karofsky for an explanation. "It's a big walk in wardrobe for you, I know the set up isn't quite right, you have to go through the study to reach it, but you can design it as you want it."

"Oh," Kurt's stunned and stares around some more, "I…" He's speechless. There are two big windows running along the outside wall, the rest of the walls are blank, the door is the only feature.

And it's all his.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.


	4. Chapter 4

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 4<strong>

His mate liked it. He wants to howl with joy but forces himself to stare at the floor quietly as Kurt hesitantly ventures forth and explores the nearly empty room. Kurt's still afraid and it rises off him in waves, but he's momentarily distracted and the fear has retreated for a time.

The sound of footsteps and then Burt and Carole are there too and they seem just as puzzled by the room as Kurt had been, being helpful he uses his best respectful voice to his mate's sire, "It's a big walk in wardrobe for Kurt, he can put it together however he wants."

Burt gives him a long look and then nods, the anger and protectiveness is still there but he's looking around in curiosity too. Hopefully this will show them that he can take care of his mate financially and provide fully for him, though knowing Kurt he'll probably pursue a career anyway, Penny and Anton did, though Penny did most things from home now because of Violet, and even dad did part time work, they liked to provide too.

"I'll be in the sitting room when you're ready," he backs out and then walks slowly so as not to upset them and he sits down on his own, his dad's still leaning on the door frame not stepping one foot inside Dave and Kurt's den.

They wait, dad with patience and Dave with no patience, he wants to hunt his mate down so he can bite him and get this started, his mate is in his den, his mate has approved of the nest he's put together. But Kurt's human so they have human things to do too.

Standing in the big room Kurt can admit that a part of him loves this place, that this is what he would love to have been able to afford when he was older, somewhere in New York, a beautiful apartment for him and his stylish partner as he went out night after night to the sound of applause from his adoring public as they flocked to sell out Broadway shows to see him.

And he's smart enough to know that this is still beautiful and almost everything he wants materialistically, but in reality it's a cage, a wonderfully decorated cage, a cage for him to rot away in Lima in.

Trailing around the room he stops at one of the two windows and stares out morosely at the big forest. This could be one of those awful Gothic books with the silly maiden that faints constantly and the dark mysterious man who glowers and stalks about menacingly. Except there wouldn't be a happy ever after, not for him.

His dad is eyeing up the room and he walks over to him, throwing his arms around the man that means the world to him. This is one of the main reasons he has to go through with this.

"Kurt," dad says his name so quietly and he knows this must be killing his dad to be so helpless and not to be able to protect him. But now it's Kurt's turn to protect his dad instead.

"We should go to the other room," Kurt clings a bit harder even though he knows they need to do this, maybe he can get Karofsky to give them a tour of the whole hotel, twenty times over, he tramps down the hysterical laugh fighting to come up.

They all walk out to the sitting room and Karofsky's sitting in a chair on his own, meaning Kurt doesn't have to worry about sitting anywhere near him, at least for now.

Squishing on the sofa he finds himself jammed between dad and Carole with Finn perched on the end. Puck sprawls out on one by himself seemingly relaxed.

"Right, there are a few basics you need to know quickly Kurt," Paul's saying and the man is still out in the hallway. "First, no matter how much he looks like it, David will never be human. So if you're confused by his behaviour, don't assume, ask. And David that goes for you too, Kurt's going to do some things you won't understand so ask, okay?"

"Yes dad," the jock says quietly and continues to stare at his hands.

"Kurt?" Paul's staring at him now.

"Yes Mr Karofsky," his voice's really quiet too.

"Good. Second very few Cursed listen to verbal any things when they get emotional, either good or bad, the main thing you need to do is put your hands as central as you can get them and shove him, it doesn't need to be hard but he'll take that as a great big 'No' and he will back off," and then Paul gives him a very knowing look.

No, Karofsky wouldn't have told Paul about the locker room or the stairs would he? His hand trails up to touch his lips and Paul smiles softly. Oh sweet McQueen Karofsky has said something.

But the jock never backed off when he was cornering Kurt in the hallways, no matter what he'd said. Oh. In the locker room after the kiss he'd pushed the boy back and then Karofsky had fled. And on the stairwell with Blaine, he'd tried to save Blaine and had pushed the jock and again the jock had left.

"And that trick will only work for Kurt at the moment, it will take time for David to grow to like everyone else enough that he considers them pack," Paul warns the others.

"The third is the last one and it's the big one. Kurt, today David is going to start mating with you," dad draws in a breath to argue but Paul beats him to it. "It does not involve what you think it does. There will be no sex," and dad settles back down. "The process is deceptively simple. David will bite you on the shoulder or neck area, he'll inject you will a special blend of chemicals, and you'll develop a fever as the chemicals alter the scent you give off. It will take between three and five hours and then your scent will calm most of David's natural and aggressive instincts, there will be a noticeable change in how he acts around you," and it matches what Puck's told him in the basement.

"I'm not going to lie to you, this will hurt," Paul's completely serious so Kurt nods to show he understands, "The fever will be a lot like flu, it will not be pleasant for you, and afterwards you'll feel weak for a day, it's best to sleep as much as you can. The wound will heal within minutes, the scarring barely visible to human eyes."

Dad's telling Kurt what to expect and he can feel the muscles in his jaw itch and his glands in his mouth begin to over produce and flood his mouth so he's forced to swallow frequently or dribble.

Surreptitiously sniffing the air he can smell Kurt over all the others, he's taking this surprisingly well, but then it's the same as Puck's already told him, so maybe getting the same information from lots of people was a good thing for his mate.

"David's going to be very territorial until your scent changes," Dad's spelling out everything, but that was part of the plan too, tell Kurt lots and don't hide anything, that way he'll have all the facts and can ease into his new life. "So none of the rest of us will come near your rooms until it does. It would be best if only a few of you were here, probably Burt would have more of Kurt's current scent on him so please feel free to stay. And I'll show Carole and Finn to your new rooms. Puck you're welcome to visit whenever you want to, but don't tell anyone David's Cursed."

Pointing down dad goes on to say, "The rooms you have are literally right under these ones so you know where the main elevator is and I'll be happy to show you the stairs nearby too."

That was good wasn't it? Dad and Carole and Finn would be just below him, so very close to him, and yet so very far away. He listens to Paul, "Kurt you'll want to change into your night things, make sure David will be able to get to your neck and shoulder area. If you can, roll any sleeves up so David can smear you in the oil he gives off, it will speed up the process and then just try and sleep through it as much as you can. If you need any help scream, Diane, Marcus and Kitty are on standby. If you want anything to eat or drink dial 0 on the phone and either myself, Penny or Anton will bring it up for you."

The man gives him a sympathetic look, "It's going to be okay Kurt." The cynical part of him notices Paul doesn't promise though.

It all happens so quickly, Finn and Carole hug him and leave followed by Puck who gives him a thumbs up and a nod. Dad's standing so close and then Kurt walks to his suitcase in the bedroom holding his bed things.

Only pausing long enough to snatch his least favourite pyjamas he bolts for the bathroom and it isn't until he's in that he realises there isn't a lock on the door.

Hurrying he changes and then huddles on the floor with his back against the wall, for a moment he wonders if he can somehow escape out of a window. A window he remembers is up on the fifth floor and he has no rope, no money, no means to hightail it out of here.

Kurt's heartbeat has picked up again and even with the door closed he can smell the fear and terror. It's a heady, arousing scent and he shifts glad his new erection is hidden from Burt who's glaring at him.

"What?" The mechanic asks him.

Tearing his eyes away from the flimsy unlocked door Dave makes himself meet the man's eyes and to not consider it a challenge. Humans often stare into each others eyes as a means of establishing communication. It helps that Burt's covered in Kurt's scent.

"Kurt's heart is beating faster," he tells the man and the human's eyes widen.

"You can hear that?" Burt seems startled and smells surprised.

"Yes sir," politeness can't hurt at this point, though it's taking more willpower than he wants to admit to not to storm in there and bite his mate. He must wait for Kurt to come to him, for it to be as much Kurt's choice as he can make it.

"I suppose threatening you with a shotgun isn't going to make much of an impression is it?" Burt's tone is conversational, his scent says otherwise.

"No sir," he'd heal in seconds if any of the buckshot made it through his skin, which was doubtful.

"You able to say anything more than yes or no?" The man growls at him.

"What would like me to say?" Dave asks curious.

"Maybe that you'll walk away and let us go back to being a family. That you'll leave my son alone. That you'll go away and he won't have to be afraid anymore," Burt takes a step forward and Dave has to keep reminding himself that Burt is simply trying to defend the boy that's Dave's mate, he's not really picking a fight.

"I can't," he says quietly and firmly. "I can't leave Kurt any more that you can give up breathing, I need him, and it's not a good thing to get between a Cursed and what they need."

"Are you threatening me?" Burt's eyes have narrowed.

"No sir, I'm educating you. I'm going to be your son in law, and if we fight, you will die. Kurt will probably blame me," and Burt's mouth twists as Dave watches him think that over, "And then I won't mean to do it, but Kurt will get hurt, emotionally and probably physically."

That stops Burt and Dave tries to smile at him, "Sir I don't understand humans very well, you add layer upon layer of weird shit on everything that you do. You rarely listen to your instincts. You lie to others and to yourselves. And you complicate the most simple of matters and trivialise the things that have true meaning. But know this, Kurt is my mate and there is very little in this world that can keep me from him. We're trying to make this as easy on him as we can, and it's not going to be easy for me but I'm going to do my best to buy him time to adjust and accept me."

"Buy him time?" Burt's now amused, "The speed you rushed this through isn't buying him time."

"I knew Kurt was my mate before your wedding, and we waited so you could have family time and bond to your mate. If I were wild and untamed Kurt would simply go missing and you'd never find him again, plus I'd be rough with him not understanding that as he's human he needs a different type of handling. I want Kurt to come to accept this mating, to look at me as his mate, to come to trust me. I want to make him happy," he looks the man in the eyes and does his best not to be too challenging.

Studying Dave the man steps back and sits down, "You make him happy and I won't hate you. You make him unhappy and I will find a way to destroy you," his mate's sire is so calm and he nods showing him the message has been understand.

They lapse into silence and he can hear Kurt stirring in the bathroom, his heart is beating a little too fast but his feet are carrying him towards the door and Dave perks up before remembering to stare at the floor.

Wanting to hide forever Kurt shakes himself and stands on wobbly legs, he couldn't avoid it for much longer anyway. Might as well get it over and done with.

Stepping lightly to the bathroom door he opens it and Karofsky's standing there calmly staring at the floor. And dad is sitting on the sofa, crossing to him Kurt throws himself at his dad just one more time, those big arms open up and lovingly embrace him, the smell of engine oil and that horrible aftershave dad insists on buying so familiar and so safe.

"Kurt," and dad's arms tighten around his body until he can barely breathe but he's clinging just as hard.

He used to run to his dad all the time when he was little, and those big arms would sweep him up and hold him safe and sound. And then one day he lost his mom and no matter how hard he wished for it his dad's arms hadn't been able to protect him from that, his mom was gone forever. It doesn't matter how much he doesn't want this, his dad can't protect him from this either, perhaps that's part of growing up but whatever it is Kurt hates it and wants that magical childhood moment back just for a second.

Disentangling himself from those warm sheltering arms Kurt turns to Karofsky who's still standing there meekly. "Okay how do we do this?"

Those eyes lift up from the floor and the boy's calm but serious. "Pick a side of the bed you'd prefer. Then when you're ready sit on the edge, I'll sit behind you, I'll bare your neck and shoulder, then I'll bite you. Your dad and I can then ease you back on the bed and cover you up and we wait for your scent to change."

It all sounds so easy.

Getting up Kurt stares at the bed and can't make his mind up which side he wants the most. "You can change your mind," Karofsky says and for a moment Kurt has a shred of hope, "You can swap the side of the bed anything you want," oh, okay.

"That side," Kurt points to the one nearest the sitting room, if he has to make a mad dash to save himself from Karofsky it'd be best to be close to the door.

"'Kay," Dave agrees wonder why his mate picked that side, he'd been so sure Kurt would want to be closer to his clothes, oh well just another mystery to add to the list his mate was making.

Moving as slowly as he can he pulls the nice bed throw off, he knows he'll be leaking oil everywhere for a while. They'd already added a waterproof sheet to the mattress so that wouldn't be ruined. Then Dave gently pulls down the bed sheets for Kurt.

His mate just stares at the bed so Dave backs up and tries to give the human room. Kurt's fear levels were rising again and Dave's baffled as to how to help Kurt deal with them.

But his mate is made of sterner things than that and with his head held high Kurt walks over and sits outwardly calm on the edge of bed, and then his eyes widen and he looks down.

"The mattress," Kurt squeaks and he knows it's an undignified sound, but he's just sunk into the bed, there aren't any springs.

"What is it kiddo?" And dad's there too, his big hand pushing down on the mattress and he's as surprised as Kurt was.

"It's one of those memory foam things," Karofsky supplies helpfully after the moment and Kurt resists sighing at the boy.

Settling himself more securely he nods at Karofsky, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be," he's determined not to give in to the fear, he will control this somehow, if it's the last thing he does.

Coming up to the bed he can see the boy climb up and kneel on the bed, he crawls over and then Kurt loses track of him and he comes up behind Kurt. The strange dip in the bed is the only warning and then this warm hard body is pressing against his back. He tries not to react but he can feel his heart give a few stuttering kicks, the whole time Karofsky sits there quietly.

Dave counts in his head and does some boring sums and math, he makes knitting patterns in his head. His mate is right in front of him and he smells so delicious, Dave can hear the blood pounding through Kurt's body and he grits his teeth, he's determined to do this right, to not frighten Kurt anymore than he already has.

"When you're ready just bare the side of your neck," Dave tells him quietly and waits.

And waits some more.

He can do this, Kurt gives himself a pep talk. He's been lockered, dumpstered, swirlied, wedgied, yelled at, pushed, hit, tripped, kicked, spat on, so many things for someone his age. How bad can one bite be?

Reaching up he undoes a few buttons and then pulls the fabric to one side showing off the right side of his neck and then he tenses waiting for Karofsky to pounce, instead the boy says, "Thank you Kurt."

Big hands land on his shoulders and the boy pushes his face into Kurt's neck, at first all he does is sniff, then a big wet lick glides over the area.

Oh god, Dave has his hands on Kurt, he has his hands on his mate. His mate's neck smells so fucking good. His glands flood his mouth again but this time he licks Kurt's neck, yeah these glands produce a type of aphrodisiac and it's technically cheating but he'll take whatever advantage he can get with Kurt.

Loosening his jaw Dave can feel the muscles stretch, parts of his mouth unhinge and just like a snake he can open it much further than a human could. Setting his teeth on Kurt's fragile skin he lets his teeth reshape and become razor sharp, then he presses down firmly, the cuts will be so clean that they'll barely sting Kurt, and even so the boy under his mouth takes a sharp breath.

Now all Dave has to do is hang on and let the oil from the gland work it's way into Kurt's body, once the boy starts to get a fever he'll pull back and help Burt lay Kurt down. Even though it's not sexual, not really, Dave can feel his erection get harder as his own hormones run amok, this is so amazing, he's finally marking his mate.

Closing his eyes he hangs onto his sanity and counts the small little panting breaths his mate's taking and he waits for the raising body temperature to signal the moment the mating takes hold.

It hurts and Kurt bites his bottom lip letting his hands fist in the mattress beside him.

It hurts and it burns. And then the pain is still there but he's aching everywhere and he presses back into that body behind him and arches his own body, it feels painful but it feels good too.

His hands scrabble for something and then Karofsky's not holding his shoulders anymore, those big hands are holding his hands, they give him something to grip onto, something solid in a world that's beginning to spin until he sinks down and down and he's swallowed up.

Shivers are racking the body in front of him. Kurt's body temperature just took a jump up. Carefully Dave retracts his teeth and slowly pulls them out of Kurt's flesh, more of his oil gushes out of his mouth and over Kurt's neck and shoulders, it'll act like a sealant for the wounds and it will speed heal it. By the time Kurt wakes up there won't even be a scar Kurt can see, but Dave can, and so will any Cursed, they'll know Kurt's marked, that he belongs to another.

Licking his lips and resetting his jaw bone Dave looks up at a hovering Burt, "Um, sir, it's done, now we just have to wait for Kurt, a little help to get him comfortable?"

Dave doesn't need the help but the relief from the man is obvious and he knows he's made the right choice to ask. Between them they ease Kurt back until his head is on the pillow, then Burt picks Kurt's legs and feet up tucking them under the covers, Dave bites a growl back, his mate's sire is just helping out.

Soon Kurt's covered up and safe, the man sits on stool he's dragged up to the bed and they both settle down to wait. Every now and again Dave sniffs Kurt, it's the same scent, though something is just under there, something that he knows will smell amazing when it breaks through.

Lounging out on the bed Dave lets his head down onto his arm and he watches his mate breathe in and out. He listens to that heartbeat fluttering in that chest. The blood rushes through veins just under the skin and Dave can still taste Kurt's blood in his mouth, it was better than any animal he's ever hunted and eaten.

The glands on Dave's wrists are itching like crazy so he carefully digs one of Kurt's arms out from under the covers and then he rubs the inside of his arm along Kurt's taking his time to rub the oil in as gently as he can.

He does it over and over as the clock ticks marking the seconds passing by.

And then finally something happens and Dave goes up on all fours leaning down and sniffing that arm, it's so close, he whines in his throat and he knows he shouldn't but he licks up the arm and Kurt shivers in the bed moving slightly.

Then everything changes.

Shoving his nose down to that exposed flesh Dave moans, oh god, it's better than his family told him. Now he rubs his face all over that arm so he can get as much of that scent on him as he can. It's like Kurt, and him, and sex, and home, and everything happy Dave's ever known all rolled into one and it's pouring off of Kurt in waves.

It builds up inside of him and then Dave's rocking back on his heels and this sound bursts out of him, it's low and deep and he lets the whole fucking world know that he's mated, that it's done, he is not one but two.

Collapsing onto the bed he moves until the tip of his nose is resting on the bend of Kurt's elbow and closing his eyes he revels in this, the purr works it way up and he rumbles softly as he dozes next to his mate, waiting for the boy to open his eyes, then he will hunt for food and water to bring to his mate, he will care for his mate, and his mate will go back to sleep in this den he has made for them.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.


	5. Chapter 5

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 5<strong>

He ached, and his skin was clammy. Dazed Kurt lies there and tries to make sense of a brain that's off somewhere else. This rumbling noise is nearby and he sighs softly.

The rumbling cuts off and his dad is saying, "Kurt? Kiddo? Come on open your eyes."

Oh he must have been sick, caught the flu or something. He tries to move but he feels so heavy, his whole body is leaden and unresponsive. Opening one eye takes everything and his dad's leaning over him gazing down.

"Hey," his dad touches his face, "There's soup and some water on the way."

Soup. Soup is nice, but dad can't cook so it's probably out of a can, oh well, he likes soup. He closes the eye again and dozes off.

Kurt had finally woken up, Dave had known Kurt was on the edge of waking for the last ten minutes and had arranged for some simple food for him. Now Kurt was resting as comfortably as he could. He doesn't understand being sick, he's never been sick in his life. Dad had explained it as a bad healing when you ache and shiver but it lasts for days.

He's determined to fuss his mate and show that he can be there for the boy. Burt's hovering again and they exchange glances. For some reason his mate's Sire was now accepting him a little, he's not sure what he's done but this will make things easier on all of them.

A clunk from the elevator and Dave lifts his head, "Someone's on their way up."

"You can really hear that?" Burt smells more curious now.

"Yes sir, my senses are better than yours are," Dave tries to be respectful but it's like humans wander around with their ears and eyes and noses stuffed up, how did they get anything done?

"Hmm, there are so many rumours and stories about Cursed, just what's true or untrue?" Those eyes pin him and Dave stays where he is.

"I don't know what stories you've been told sir, you'd be best to ask my dad, he'd help you to understand us better, he's very good at helping us understand you," Dave's proud of his dad. "Though you might want to wait until Kurt's up to it too, and then you can all listen together."

"That sounds like a good idea," and the man's mouth quirks, and Dave's back to being baffled he doesn't understand what could have been amusing in what he'd just said.

A knock on the door and Dave can smell Penny. Normally he'd go and help her but he can hear wheels so she's pushing the food on something, probably the caddy Anton had gone nuts over.

And then Penny's there and she's pushing the caddy with a tray on it. Limping over to them the human woman sets the tray on the bedside table and gives Burt a chance to stare at her, human's always stare at her when they first meet her.

Turning back to them she smiles and holds her hand out to Burt, "Hi, I'm Penny, I'm Marcus's mate and wife, and I believe you've met my little imp of a daughter Vi."

Shaking hands with her Burt nods, "Yeah, she kinda introduced herself to us, she's a cute kid," it makes them both smile and Dave can smell they seem to like each other. "I'm Burt, Kurt's dad."

Penny looks down at Kurt's sleeping face, "He seems sweet," her hand drifts down towards him and Dave can't help the growl that comes from his throat, he gives her shocked eyes surprised at his own reaction, "Oh Davie," she smiles, "It's okay I should have known better than to try and touch your mate just yet," she winks and says, "I'll leave you to it, the soup's in a container and should stay hot for a while. And now I can go and meet the rest of the family, I'm looking forward to meeting Carole, it'll be nice to have another woman around here."

Penny leaves them and Dave goes back to staring at Kurt and sniffing that arm. Burt moves slightly and Dave glances up to find the man staring at him thoughtfully.

Lifting up a little Dave tilts his head, "What?"

"Nothing," but it's something, it must mean that Burt doesn't want to talk about it, humans did that sometimes.

"'Kay," he sniffs Kurt some more and then the boy's heartbeat changes and his breathing shifts so Dave looks up at Burt, "Kurt's waking up again."

He can hear a voice and it sounds like Karofsky. Which is silly, because he's recovering from flu, why would his bully be in his room? Prising his eyes open he can see his dad smiling at him.

"Hey, how you feeling?" His dad asks.

"Tired," Kurt croaks out and winces at how rough his voice sounds.

"You up for some soup?" Dad asks.

He nods soup would be nice. Dad helps him sit up and he slowly becomes aware that he's not in his own room. Have they moved to the new house already? Looking around there's something about the green he needs to remember, and then he sees Karofsky lying on the bed and watching him.

Oh.

That.

It takes effort but he gets his hand up to his neck and it comes away bloodless, "It's all healed up," Karofsky says and there's an echo of the strangle rumbling in the boy's voice.

Too tired to care Kurt looks at his dad, "Soup?"

"Sure thing," dad opens a container on the bedside table. And the aroma of soups hits him, it smells delicious, this isn't soup out of a can, it's homemade. But who made it?

Deciding to leave the questions for later Kurt actually lets his dad feed him, not something he's done since mom died, he'd had to step up and help his dad back then.

All the time he's eating he's aware of Karofsky staring at him steadily and calmly, he's not used to the jock being so calm and relaxed. Hungry, he finishes all the soup and it uses up the last of his energy.

His eyes close against his will and he starts to doze off again, Paul hadn't been kidding when he'd told him to rest afterwards.

Kurt had eaten the food provided by Dave's family and now the boy was sleeping again. Dave grins to himself, this is good, his mate was here, his mate was marked. He doesn't kid himself, this is far from over, taming his new mate would be impossible, he has to wait for Kurt to come to him, to give this mating a chance.

Though thinking of Kurt putting his hand on the back of Dave's neck and finding the right spot has Dave purring again, softly so he doesn't wake Kurt up. He wants to roll around on the bed, to rub himself all over Kurt's arm that's still on top of the covers, to smother himself in Kurt's new scent.

He makes himself lay still and behave, they would spend a human lifetime together, there was time to do that, and then he can act like a giddy little cubling while Kurt's petting him.

Normally he doesn't have the patience to just sit or, in this case, lay on the bed doing nothing, but watching his mate is turning out to be just as fascinating as waiting for prey to step out. Each breath Kurt takes is hypnotizing, and so soothing that he finds his own head drooping onto the bed, his purrs never stopping for a minute.

"You can go to sleep if you want," Burt says.

Dave jerks his head back up trying to act like he wasn't nodding off on the job, "'S'Cool, I can keep watch."

"There something more dangerous than you lurking around the place you gotta watch out for?" The human's amused again.

"No sir, but my mate is sleeping and isn't feeling well, I want to be here for him," it's true and Dave sniffs the arm that's available to him again.

"Hmm, okay then," and a smile is playing around the man's mouth.

When Kurt starts waking up again Dave calls for more food and Anton brings it in, "Hey I'm Anton, Kitty's mate," he shakes Burt's hand, "How's he doing?"

"Sleeping," Dave tells him slowly, wondering why Anton can't see that for himself.

A spurt of amusement from both humans and then Anton says, "Sorry I meant how's he taking the mating fever so far?"

Oh, sitting up Dave nods, "Good, it broke cleanly, he's scent's very strong and he's woken once already for the first lot of soup, he ate every bit of it too. Thank you for cooking for him Anton."

"No worries little bro," Anton smiles at him, "I remember how wreaked I felt after Kitty bit me," he shudders, "Not good," patting Burt's shoulder as he passes he tells him, "No much longer now, Kurt should sleep again after this and then he'll wake up properly. He'll get tired quickly for about a day and then he'll be back to normal."

"Thanks," Burt says and they nod to each other as Anton leaves with the last tray.

Settling down Dave continues to watch Kurt, the boy is on the cusp of waking up and suddenly those eyes are staring at him, unfocused but still trained on him.

It wasn't a dream. He really was lying in bed with Karofsky there too and the jock was purring softly. Maybe it was all fever dreams, except dad was there and he just doesn't have the energy to argue with them so he lets dad feed him more soup and it's as delicious as the last, this time its vegetable and who ever cooked it is a genius.

Yawning he lays back, he's not quite ready to drop off to sleep. "What time is it?" He asks.

"About four thirty," dad says and Kurt can feel his eyes widen in surprise, it's rare for him to sleep during the day.

"Oh, has anything else happened? I mean I assume the fever thing worked?" The details are a bit hazy in his mind.

The purring cuts off and Karofsky says, "Yes, your scent's changed, well changed might be the wrong word, it's grown."

"Grown?" The word's baffling Kurt and he looks at his dad who shrugs.

"You smell like you, and you smell like home," Karofsky gets out before he starts purring again. Oh, Puckerman was right they do purr like a cat, but deeper.

The yawn sneaks up on him and Kurt can feel himself being pulled back down to sleep.

"Home?" Burt asks once Kurt's breathing has settled down.

"Yes sir," Dave sprawls out. "Um do you want me to move something bigger than a chair over for you? That way you can lay out too. I have books you can borrow too."

"Well my back isn't getting any younger, if I'm going to be here for a while I could do with something more than this chair, you need a hand?" Burt looks at him.

"It's fine sir," reluctant to leave his mate he walks into the other room and picks a sofa up, it's awkward to handle but he gets it next to the bed for Burt and goes back to staring at Kurt while Kurt's sire goes to look at the books in the study.

Returning with a thriller the man lays out near the bedside lamp and reads, though every other page he glances up at Kurt checking to make sure his son's okay.

About seven Dave gets up and closes all the curtains, while he listens to the elevator. It's dad, he's brought Burt some dinner and wrapped sandwiches for Kurt in case he wakes up in the night and is hungry.

Sitting down on the sofa near Burt dad studies the sleeping boy in the bed, "So David, how are you enjoying mating so far?"

There's a tone in dad's voice that means he has to be very careful, he thinks it over and then goes for the truth, "It's very quiet, but I know when Kurt's awake and feeling better it'll be anything but quiet, in fact it'll be very noisy. Kurt tends to be dramatic and argumentative I'm sure he'll manage to make the mating dramatic too."

Amused dad smiles at him, so he adds, "I know I'll never be bored with him, I could spend more than one life time with him and I bet I'll never know everything about him."

"I feel that way about your mother," Dad seems happy with his answer so Dave gazes back at his mate.

Taking away all the plates and other accessories humans use to eat with his dad gives him a discrete thumbs up, he was doing something right.

"You didn't eat," Burt mentions.

"No we made sure to stuff ourselves before we left this morning, I won't need to eat for a few more days," sniffing Kurt's arm again Dave can't wait for the boy to wake up in the morning so that he can have the clothes Kurt's wearing now. The family will go out to Dave's favourite sunning stone and they'll roll on the clothes to rub as much of Kurt onto themselves as they can, to mingle his scent in with theirs and make him part of their pack.

After taking a trip to the bathroom Burt goes back to reading and about eleven Dave can hear the man's breathing change, peeking up he can see Burt's nodded off. Using all his stealth Dave gets the man a blanket because humans can get cold at night and he covers the man's body.

Reclining on the bed he finally lets himself doze off for short little catnaps.

By six the next morning Burt's woken up and by nine Kurt's awake, his eyes are much clearer too.

Oh prada he still aches in places but his head feels a lot less muzzy, he can think again. Desperate for the bathroom he tries to stand on his own and falls back to the bed.

"I can carry you," the meathead he's mated to offers and Kurt just wants the boy to leave him alone.

It's a choice of his dad who has a bad heart or a supernaturally strong Cursed who can bench press elephants. "Fine," he sighs.

Carefully the jock picks him up and its humiliating to be carried bridal style to the bathroom. Even more carefully he's set on his feet, "I'll be right outside when you're finished. Oh and you might want to have breakfast before you try washing, more energy for you and shit like that."

Left alone in the bathroom he pees and washes his hands. Refusing to call for anyone he wobbles towards the door and his legs give way. Stubbornly he lays there and wills his legs to work.

Kurt's fallen and he paces nervously, he wants so much to help his mate but his mate really wasn't that interested in him touching him. Sighing he paces some more and waits, if Kurt doesn't move soon maybe Burt can help out.

Furious Kurt attempts to sit up and has to deal with a dizzy spell. Finally conceding defeat he calls out, "Karofsky."

Opening the door the idiot peeks around at him, "Are you ready?"

Of all the stupid questions, Kurt swallows his sarcastic retort and smiles sweetly, "Yes."

And then the boy lifts him up effortlessly and carries him back to that nice warm if somewhat sweaty bed as dad tells him breakfasts on its way.

A woman appears and she limps over pushing a very fetching food trolley, clearly someone in this place has good taste. Spitefully Kurt thinks she's limping because one of the monsters of the house hurt her.

"Good morning," she's far too cheerful and then he gets a good look at her face and gasps, she doesn't react so she can't have heard him and he stares openly at her.

She's fair haired, average height and weight, he can see she has dull brown eyes and frankly she's not that attractive, but what makes it worse is that the left side of her face is almost melted and its horribly scarred and misshapen.

Wrenching his eyes away he concentrates on the food she's brought him and his dad, "Thank you," Kurt says as politely as he can trying to pretend he wasn't staring at her a moment ago.

"You're welcome Kurt, and Burt," her voice hardens, "Carole was very specific about your breakfast, fruits are good for you," and then she spoils it by laughing, "So I won't mention the bacon I had this morning. Oh I'm Penny by the way, I'm Marcus' mate and Vi's mom," she introduces herself to Kurt. "And I'm so sorry that little imp ambushed you when you got here, she's been begging us for days to meet you."

"I'm Kurt, it's a pleasure to meet you, feel free to make dad eat fruit all you want, and Vi was very," he pauses and adds, "Lively and bright."

"That's one way of describing her," Penny chuckles, "If I didn't know better I'd swear she's an imp of mischief sent to torment me for all the hell I put my parents through," she waves to the food, "Eat up. Once you're washed and dressed come down to the front sunroom. Paul's setting up a Q&A session for you, plus Carole, Finn and the Puckerman boy are all anxious to make sure Dave didn't eat you in the night as a snack."

That gets a snort from Karofsky and she sticks her tongue out at him pulling a funny face and then she's gone.

Eating the oat, fruit and yoghurt mix Kurt turns their conversation over in his mind. Dad must have met her last night, she wasn't afraid of Karofsky, she didn't seem upset to be mated to one of the Cursed and they'd known about Karofsky picking him as a mate days ago.

As he eats Kurt can feel his strength start to return, and he must be hungrier than he thought as most of the food is vanishing right in front of his eyes.

Musing on the strangeness of humans Dave still doesn't understand why they stare at Penny when they first meet her. Kurt's reaction was classic but at least he hadn't said nasty or cruel words like some did.

If Kurt was Fancy and dad was mom's Sweet, then Penny was Marcus' Pretty, and Dave knew she was pretty. Pretty patient, pretty sweet, pretty good at counting to ten before she threw something at Marcus' head for upsetting her, pretty fierce and best to be avoided until she calmed down, pretty courageous and strong, in fact she was just plain Pretty.

Putting the spoon down Kurt sighs in contentment. That felt much better. And now he felt more human he had a need to scrub himself clean and put nice clothes on.

"Would you like to wash now?" Karofsky's still watching him.

"Yes please," he says and then freezes, what if Karofsky tries to shower with him?

"'Kay, I'll get towels for you and pull your suitcases over, then I'll carry you and everything you need into the bathroom. When you've finished let me know and I'll come in to carry you out and down to the sunroom," the jock gives him a serious look, "You'll still get tired for a while today so you might want to do stuff in stages, then tomorrow you'll be back to normal."

Annoyed that he'll have to be carried Kurt latches onto the words that probably mean he can get his own clothes, and can be alone in the bathroom.

The boy gets off the bed and heads to the suitcases, he lays them around Kurt so he can reach them and then goes into the bathroom bringing back about five fluffy towels, "Are these okay?"

"Um," Kurt eyes them up, "Yes, those are fine, thank you," he politely tags on the end to stay on Karofsky's good side.

Dad has to help him sort through his suitcases and he's packed all the wrong clothes to convalesce in but in the end he decides on a loose pair of slacks and a shirt in a really soft material, he's not bothered with any jumpers and asks his dad how cold it is downstairs.

"Dunno kiddo, I've been in here with you the whole time," dad says and he blinks in surprise and smiles softly at the man.

"Thank you dad, for being here with me," he reaches out to hug him and then wrinkles his nose, "Though perhaps while I'm showering you might want to do the same."

It makes the man laugh softly, "Sure thing Kurt, get Dave to come get me if you need anything," and after ruffling Kurt's hair making him squeak he leaves.

Suddenly it strikes Kurt that dad called Karofsky 'Dave', just what happened last night while he was out of it?

And talking of Karofsky he looks around to find the jock standing quietly in the doorway of the bathroom, and the boy is staring at his feet again. Kurt's a bit baffled by the boy's behaviour, he's heard so many stories about Cursed, he's glad they've all been proved wrong so far.

The interaction between his mate and his mate's sire had made him smile and the simple way the man had called him Dave was a good thing, he was sure of it. He waits for Kurt to call for him to help, he's determined not to overstep the boundaries, he's going to let Kurt decide how far they go and when, even though he really wants to push his mate down onto the bed and do naked things to him.

"Um," Kurt clears his throat and tries again, "I'm ready to shower now."

"Okay," the boy moves slowly forward almost exaggerating his movements and he carefully carries Kurt's clothes off. Kurt has to wait for him to come back and then he's being carried into the bathroom again.

Pointing at the shower Karofsky gives him a mini lecture, "Just look at the pictures, they'll tell you which jets do what, and the temperature control is pretty basic. Oh and the coloured lights are turned on and off from there," the boy points.

Coloured lights? Kurt stares and smiles happily.

Karofsky retreats from the room and the moment the door clicks shut Kurt starts unbuttoning his pyjamas, the need to be clean overriding his need to protect his modesty, so far the jock has respected Kurt's privacy.

It was time to shower.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.

I promise next chapter Dave shapeshifts…


	6. Chapter 6

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 6<strong>

Stepping into the shower Kurt eyes up the various buttons and levers and wonders why a shower needs all of these things. And then he reaches out and starts the shower. Adjusting the heat the water smoothly gets a little warmer until it's at the perfect temperature for him.

Deciding to experiment he tries out the various jets and he laughs as one manages to hit his side and it tickles him. Quickly shutting it off he grabs the shampoo and he's pleasantly surprised when it turns out to be organic.

It's not the same as his own products but it will have to do for now. Squirting some out he washes his hair and rinses, he can live without conditioner just this once, it's unusual circumstances after all.

The shower gel is organic too. And it lathers up wonderfully rich as he scrubs himself. Rinsing under the spray that would make a waterfall proud he steps out and turns the water off.

Grabbing a towel he's shocked at the sheer luxurious quality of it, drying himself he checks his skin to see how badly destroyed it is, which is when he finds the underarm of one of his arms is unusually soft and smooth. It's the arm that had been resting on top of the sheets.

Leaning over the sink he checks his face out, the fever and sweating haven't done any real damage and his stuff should be here soon, so he can do a full routine tonight.

Tonight.

He freezes in place for a second and then decides to ignore the problem for now. So far Karofsky hadn't done anything bad to him and all his ideas of what should be happening were wrong. He'll wait for Paul's little Q&A to find out what's next.

Pulling on his clothes he can feel his legs start to wobble again so he sits on the toilet to finish buttoning up his shirt and then pulls his socks on. He really doesn't want to rely on him but he calls out, "Karofsky," the idiot can do something useful for once and be helpful, after all it's the jock's fault he was sick.

Kurt's just called him so Dave puts down the pillow he was changing. Kurt would probably want clean sheets on the bed so he's picked the royal blue set and has already changed the velvet hangings.

The jock's head appears around the door, "Ready?"

"Yes," he lifts his head up and tries not to be nervous as the boy approaches him, he's carried out into the bedroom and gasps. "It was green and yellow," he can see the old screwed up sheets and things off to one side.

"Um, yeah," the bigger boy says and then shrugs making him move in those powerful arms, "I thought you'd prefer to sleep in clean sheets, you don't seem to like dirt and stuff."

"Oh, thank you," Kurt's baffled again, nothing is going like the stories said it would, nothing at all.

"Er, I heard you ask your dad if it was cold downstairs, I don't really feel the cold so I don't know how it'll feel to you, but I have a jersey you can borrow if you want?"

Not trusting himself to speak Kurt nods and he gets put down on a sofa as Karofsky goes to the door leading to the study and then the giant unfinished walk in wardrobe.

Dave manages to make himself walk slowly. Kurt had been surprised but happy about the sheets. And then his mate had accepted the offer of the jersey. Dave only has a few and he tries to think which colour Kurt might prefer, but it's totally beyond him.

Inspiration strikes and he picks up all of them. That's what Marcus sometimes does with Penny, takes all of them and she can pick the one she wants. Taking them to Kurt he kneels by the boy and offers them up, "I didn't know which one you'd prefer."

His mate stares at him then reaches out and touches one, "This one please," so Dave hands it over and takes the others back.

When he walks into the bedroom Kurt's pulled it on, it's huge on the smaller boy and Kurt's frowning at the sleeves that his hands barely peek out of. "Are you ready to go down?" Dave asks.

His mate looks at him and then nods regally, "Yes."

So Dave stoops down and carries his mate out of the bedroom, Kurt might look slim and weak but Dave's aware of the strength in that body, a body that needs to be built back up, he'll talk to Anton, the man was a wonder in the kitchen, Kurt will love eating his food, all the humans did.

In the corridor Dave hesitates. Normally he'd bound over the balcony and just land on the stairs, but he doesn't want to scare Kurt. Walking over to the elevator he presses the button and sighs.

Kurt's lifted an eyebrow at him, "I don't like the elevator," Dave explains remembering dad lecturing him about telling Kurt everything, and that communication was key to a good mating with a human.

"Oh?" that high yet soft voice queries.

"Its enclosed and its so slow," Dave complains, "I prefer the stairs."

The elevator gets there and Dave steps in and presses the button to take them to the foyer thing. The doors close, slowly, and Dave sighs again.

Held in the jock's arms Kurt watches the boy glare at the floor indicator as it slowly takes them down. Curious he asks, "So why didn't you use the stairs? I could have met you at the bottom."

That earns him a look and a snort, "Nope, you're my mate, and you're recovering from the mating fever, you'll be fine tomorrow but today I'll spoil you. Anyway if I used the stairs I'd beat you there, then I'd be bored waiting for you."

The doors open and Kurt's spared from answering as Karofsky moves off. They go through a small maze of halls and then walk into a big, light and airy room that faces the front and the sun that's currently streaming through the big windows. Everyone he's met so far is there ahead of them.

It's nice and warm but Kurt's loathe to take the jersey off just yet and he can feel a breeze from one of the open windows. He's taken over to a central sofa and deposited safely on one side of it.

"Um, I just gotta finish changing the bed and then I'm ready to go out," the jock says and walks away.

Baffled as to where the jock is going out to Kurt watches the three other Cursed get up and walk after him. He goes to ask Paul a question but the man silently holds up a finger to his lips and then points to his ear. Did he mean don't talk yet because they can hear it?

The woman he'd met, called Penny, covers a smile and then says, "Hi Kurt I'm glad you could join us, I told your family Dave hadn't eaten you, and here you are."

Finn bounces over, "Dude the bed was freaky, mom says it's a memory foam thingy and that's its good for peoples backs, but I sunk into mine and then I couldn't escape and I had to roll and I fell off the bed," the taller boy babbles and Kurt nods along because he can just see Finn trapped and not realising that he just has to sit up. He tells Finn who blinks, "Dude, that's like totally awesome."

Puck saunters over and points at his neck so Kurt moves to show him, the mowhawked boy leans in and studies the almost smooth skin and then nods, "Hummel you gotta try the breakfasts here, man that's some good food."

It's obvious they're all waiting for something and Kurt plays along, he'll find out the answers he's looking for soon enough.

Dave finishes with the bed and grabs the sheets and he can finally go back to just jumping over the banister and rails, landing much further down he runs through the den to the back where the laundry room and main kitchen are.

His mom and sibs are already there, as is Anton. The human is kissing Kitty and making little nibble things the other mates are fond of. Anton must be making some of them for Kurt too.

"Thank you for the nice food you made for Kurt," Dave says politely.

"You're welcome Dave," Anton smiles at him and kisses Kitty again, "You guys going out now?"

He looks at his mom who nods, "Yes, we're going to Dave's spot, I assume you have Kurt's clothes from the fever?" Dave waves Kurt's PJs which are drenched in his new scent. "Come then Kitty, let us change and go to mix our scents with Dave's Fancy."

"Bye Treasure," Kitty kisses Anton again and Dave leaves the sheets in the box for the housekeeping staff to wash.

Trooping along behind them he reaches the room set aside for changing and slips out of his clothes. To his surprise Anton is there and the human starts to pick up their clothes and folds them all neatly.

Shrugging it off Dave falls to his hands and knees and lets his inner dragon out. It never hurts him to change, but then he's a natural born Cursed, not a spontaneous Cursed, their bodies were more resistant to the change. He can feel the vertebra in his back lengthen and shift to become much more flexible. His tail grows from his butt and starts to swish about, though he's careful not to catch anyone with it. His neck grows longer and the vertebras unfold even as his facial bones restructure and his tongue splits down the middle.

His arms and legs have twisted slightly and claws have slipped out to grip the floor beneath him. Parts of his shoulders have unfurled and his wings break the surface of his body, the tips catch on the roof forcing him to cant them at a strange angle as they finish growing.

Lastly his skin tingles as his scales surface and sheath him. His human skin was tough but his dragon skin was almost impenetrable. Moving his head on his long mobile neck he looks underneath himself to the much bigger dick and ball sacs dangling down. Concentrating he gets them up and into his body, the damn things caught on stuff when he ran otherwise.

Shaking himself he settles his wings down on his body and then watches Kitty lift herself up and pad over to Anton who was gazing at her adoringly, "Hey honey," Anton reaches out and runs a finger down her long face, "Have fun today," the human leans forward and kisses her on the tip of her nose.

Dave wonders if Kurt will ever be that comfortable around him, enough that he can show off his other forms, the dragon was his favourite and the one he was the most at ease in, but as a natural born he had other shapes, one was a wolf canine, the other a big cat feline.

Anton opens the door for them and Dave picks up Kurt's PJs in his mouth, his tongue sweeps over it and he can smell and taste Kurt at the same time. Trotting out the door Dave catches a glimpse of himself, he hopes Kurt likes his colouring.

Mom and Kitty are both smaller and brown with some green and gold markings. Marcus is the most exotic and is a blue that Penny always coos over. Perhaps Kurt will like Dave's dark green with brown and gold markings, and the little speckles of blue along the ridges of his wings that dad had called freckles.

Once out of the den mom runs for lift off and takes to the air. Obediently Marcus and Kitty follow her, so Dave speeds up and launches upwards, his wings beating hard to get up there as he draws his legs up to lessen the drag. His long sinewy tail flows out snake like behind him and then the fan on the end flairs out acting like extra steerage.

Not wanting to upset the people who monitor radar they stick to gliding just above the tree line and Dave loves being able to do this, to really be free and flying, Dad has admitted that he envies them this, that he wanted to fly when he was a child.

They stay in formation and continue to scan the area, just because their pack was strong and patrolled their territory fiercely didn't mean that a threat couldn't sneak in. Their mates were human and very fragile, they needed more protection, and they had a little child there too, no one could be allowed to threaten their den.

Banking mom changes direction and they're soon above the little island in the stream that crosses their land, the island's Dave's bit of territory. Here he can bask in the sun, run in the small wooded bit or frolic in the water. Dragons are the most versatile of all the shapes and Dave loves being able to breathe underwater, to not be forced to the surface for air.

Landing with enough back wing to raise dust they settle on the big stone that soaks up the most sun and Dave's still smug that his stone is the best sunning stone in their whole territory.

Dropping Kurt's PJs Dave spreads them out with his claws being careful not to rip the material too much. They'll be useless after this but he wants them to last long enough.

Happy with how they are he drops to his belly and rubs it on the material, then he rolls around on it, twisting and turning to get as much scent on himself as possible. He almost knots his tail and then stands up and lets the others have a go.

Flicking his tongue out he smell tastes himself and he's happy with the results, almost every last inch of him is covered. Mom comes over and they smell taste each other and then rub their bodies together to mix all the scents up.

Before long Marcus and Kitty have joined them and they writhe around the floor until they're all covered and then they lay out on the sunning rock to let the weak winter rays of sun hit their bodies. Dave's made sure he's laying on the PJs and he lazily closes his inner eye coverings and starts to purr.

He knows this is probably the last idyllic moment he's going to have for a while, Kurt's not going to stay so quiet and passive for long, he's fairly certain Kurt's going to fight him every step of the way so he's happy to lay here for a while and just rest.

Kitty's the first of the others to start purring and then Marcus and Mom join in, it's nice to be able to do this, to spend time and work on the social bonds that allow them to function together instead of attacking each other.

Watching an insect flying through the air Dave wonders what Kurt's doing right now.

They've spent ten minutes exchanging pleasantries and Kurt's learned about the suite his family are in, it sounds nice and Finn's excited about having his own bathroom, plus he's seen the big pantry in the kitchen and nearly drooled.

The small talk is stalling when Violet bounces over, "Hi Unca Kurt, are you feeling better? Mommy said you mated Unca Davie last night."

"Um," he's never really had to deal with children before but he rallies, "I'm feeling much better thank you and yes 'Davie' bit me."

It seems to satisfy her and then she goes on to say, "That's good then, because soon Unca Davie can get pregnant, are you going to get Unca David pregnant soon because daddy said he has to wait to get mommy pregnant again, and that Auntie Kitty and Unca Anton will probably be next and I like Auntie Kitty but it would be good if Unca Davie could get pregnant too and then I could have cousins to play with," he's not even sure she took a breath at any point and he blinks at the onslaught and blushes at the thought of getting 'Davie' pregnant.

"Vi," Penny calls, "Kurt's only just mated Dave, give them time to settle, plus they have college before either of them are ready to have cublings my little impling."

Giggling the little imp runs to her mother who picks her up and pulls her into her lap, "Okay mommy, but Unca Kurt's so pretty, I bet his cublings will be pretty too."

"I'm sure they will be," Penny smiles at her daughter, "But they have plenty of time to get to that."

"Lots and lots of time," dad mutters and Kurt flushes even brighter as Finn frowns confused.

Clearing his throat Paul hides his smile, "Anton said he was getting some nibbles for us all, he should be here soon," getting up the man wheels a big screen in and turns it on. Fiddling with it he plugs it into a laptop.

"Grandpapa what are you doing? Are we going to play a game?" Vi's wiggled off her mother's lap and shot over to Paul.

"No Vi, this is for our new family members, I'm going to give them a very long and detailed talk about Cursed," Paul says and Vi starts to look bored, "Hmm I don't think you'd like it, maybe mommy has something you can watch on TV with your headphones on?" The little girl almost wavers so Paul adds, "But you'll always be welcome to come and sit nice and quietly with us."

Her mind made up she's soon set up off where everyone can keep an eye on her but she wouldn't hear them, especially with those big earphones on.

"Very smooth," dad compliments them.

Penny chuckles, "Practice Burt, lots and lots of practice."

A man appears in the door way and hurriedly pushes the food trolley Kurt had admired earlier. The man is quite tall and slim, with a shock of bright red hair and his pale skin looks like someone has thrown a bucket of freckles over him. His green eyes were kind, and his clothes very stylish, chic, and in perfectly good taste.

"They've shifted and I last saw them flying towards the forest and Dave's little island. We've got an hour, two tops before they come back," the man hands a small stopwatch to Paul and then sits down next to Penny.

Suddenly the man is up on his feet and he comes towards Kurt, "Sorry where are my manners, I'm Anton, Kitty's mate," he holds his hand out and Kurt shakes it, then he's sitting next to Penny again and all eyes turn to Paul.

"Right, well Kurt if you're going to freak out you've got an hour or so before they're back so try and fit it in if you can," for a moment Kurt thinks Paul's joking but he's completely serious.

Tapping the keys of the laptop Paul brings an image of a dragon up on the screen, "Okay you've probably heard all the stories about Cursed and what they can and can't do and even what they're like," Kurt nods even as he can see his family and Puckerman nod too. "Well I'll give you a quick run down on them, this is all gleaned from my time with them and observations I've made on them, I've gotten Di to back some of it up and she's helped me learn to understand them as much as any human can."

"So without further ado let me tell you about Cursed…"

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.

Oh no, you'll have to wait for next time… And I'm keeping the bi monthly posting for now so just a few weeks for more…

And see I told some of you Dave would shift soon.


	7. Chapter 7

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 7<strong>

Kurt stares at Paul and the man points at the screen, "First off I can't tell you what Cursed actually are, no one really knows. They look human, they talk just like we do, they can reason, with a few interesting twists, but at the same time they aren't human and we're very different in so many ways."

The woman called Penny snorts at that and Anton hides a smile, "Yes Penny?" Paul smiles at her.

"Oh I wouldn't want to spoil it for Kurt," she says sweetly.

That makes Anton laugh softly, "Would that be before or after you give it away by throwing a plate at Marcus because he's upset you again?"

Rolling her eyes she smiles and then huffs out a little laugh, "Well he shouldn't be such a fat head about things."

Wait Penny threw things at Marcus? The scary quiet one with the blue eyes?

"Hmm, that reminds me we need to order some more plates," Paul's clearly teasing Penny who innocently stares at her hands, when she glances up her eyes catch Kurt's and she winks at him.

Confused Kurt goes back to Paul's presentation, "Right now that's out of the way. What Penny means is that they really don't think like we do and it can be frustrating to be around them, they think they're helping but they can mess things up or do things that can hurt us emotionally, they're always sorry but they won't really understand what they did wrong."

Clicking a button a close up picture of a dragon appears, "This is David," and Kurt studies it. The dragon is long and serpentine, it looks like a traditional western dragon, two pairs of legs, a long neck and tail, wings and scaly and dragony. The dragon was a dark khaki green with brown and what could be gold markings running in thin stripes over it's body. It was sitting on it's haunches and looking at the camera with it's head tilted slightly. A tip of it's forked tongue protruded from it's mouth and it's bright golden eyes were trained on the photographer.

He just couldn't wrap his head around Karofsky being that beautiful breathtaking creature.

"As you can see he conforms to all the main stereotypical norms of being a dragon. The few differences are that he has no ridge running down his back and he can't breathe fire."

Leaving it on the same picture Paul goes on to say, "And as a natural born Cursed, as opposed to a spontaneous Cursed, David can change easily and without pain, plus he has additional forms available."

Now Paul changes slides and a big wolf, dog, canine thing is sitting there. It almost looks like a dog with a side order of wolf and something that is so much more. So pale it's nearly white with soft tiger stripes of grey running down it's back it's tongue is sticking out slightly and the eyes are again golden and watching the photographer.

"All the family have the option of turning canine and I have theorised that this is where the traditional stories of werewolves were born and over time have evolved and changed and been Hollywoodised," it seems Paul doesn't approve of werewolf movies. "Honestly where they got the ridiculous idea about silver I'll never know."

Another picture this time of a big cat, it's jet black and reminds Kurt of a panther mixed with all the big cats to give off a sense of lethal, it's a little spoilt by the tongue sticking out and Kurt's sensing a theme here, he's also unsurprised when the eyes are golden.

"Hey he's different colours!" Finn says, "How come he isn't the same colour in all the shapes?"

Paul shrugs, "I have no idea, its one of the many many many things that continue to puzzle me about Cursed."

"Oh you should see my Marcus," Penny says proudly, "He's this wonderful blue as a dragon, looks like a white tiger as a feline, and is a disappointing brown as a canine."

Anton rolls his eyes, "Really? We're playing my mate's better than your mate already? Please, Kitty might be plainer but she blends in so much easier, her camouflage is far superior to Marcus's."

"Children," Paul scolds gently, "And if we're playing then Diane wins hands down every time." Having gotten the last word Paul turns back, "Right. Where was I? Oh yes. So all four have three shapes. All four are natural born, which means at least one of their parents is Cursed. Natural born always have more than one form, they can shapeshift without pain, they can live between two hundred and three hundred years, and they are a type of hermaphrodite, they have both the ability to get pregnant and get another Cursed pregnant. We'll get to that last bit later on."

Taking a sip of water Paul sets the glass back down, "The other type of Cursed are the spontaneous Cursed. And those poor bastards really are cursed. They're born human, just like us, and if there aren't enough Cursed in an area, one day they'll be out and about, they'll go somewhere near nature, even a park in the middle of a big city will suffice, and they'll get bitten by a predator of some kind, a predator that will vanish without trace and won't leave tracks. We got a call within a day of it happening, which in itself was unusual, and between them our four couldn't smell or find a damn thing where the attack happened."

Sighing Paul sits back, "Anyway the poor unfortunate soul will start to change, they'll get grumpy and temperamental, territorial, paranoid. And after a month they're ready, the next full moon after that and they'll shapeshift into whatever bit them. They usually go on a mini rampage, the pain of their bodies changing shape so radically coupled with extreme hunger leads them to eat whoever's nearest.

"Due to the nature of Cursed they lose what little grip of their humanity they might have left and they can become serial killers, serial rapists, they love to eat human flesh, and they're normally behind the horror stories you've heard. Most of the calls we get for our mates to go out and hunt down rogue Cursed are caused by spontaneous Cursed."

Well that was certainly interesting and Kurt gets himself comfortable to find out more. At least Karofsky was natural born and it explains why the levels of Cursed violence have dropped, if the government were placing the Cursed in the right areas the rate of spontaneous Cursed would drop and so would the general levels of violence.

"That doesn't mean all natural born are nice, far from it, they're predators and they're at the top of the food chain for a reason. Also if a spontaneous Cursed, usually a female, can mate another Cursed, or a human and get pregnant the chance of her having a natural born Cursed are very high, the child will normally be able to shift into whatever shape the mother can and they gain one more shape, usually a predator that's the most prevalent in the local area but surprises can happen.

"As you know twelve years ago the government decided to try a little experiment, they welcomed the Cursed living within their borders and simply said live within our human laws and you're safe from us, break those laws and the other Cursed living here will hunt you down," he waves his hand, "It had a few flaws, one of them being mating," that earns Kurt a long look, "And the simple fact that the Cursed were so used to running and hiding that they moved around too much and there were still lots of spontaneous Cursed being created. So territories were marked out and some of the Cursed settled down, bigger territories were given to the rare family units, like ours, and the levels of spontaneous dropped, they're still being created but at nowhere near the same high numbers."

He'd been right about placing the Cursed around to stop the spontaneous Cursed happening.

"It took a while for the government to accept and even implement these rules so those humans my age have grown up hearing all the horror stories and believing that anyone mating with a Cursed should be hunted down and killed and that they did something to single themselves out, that they in fact wanted to be mated to a Cursed," Paul gives Kurt a rueful look, "In fact back then most of us wanted nothing to do with Cursed, which is why they tended to just kidnap us and made it look like we walked out one day and never came back."

Wait, what did he mean? Kurt sits up straighter, he'd assumed Paul was Diane's mate willingly.

"You have to understand they really don't understand what it is to be human, they don't understand that we're fragile compared to them, that we don't have their instincts, that to mate us they have to take a different approach to the one they normally do," Paul sighs, "I think I need to explain their reproductive systems first."

A new slide, this time of two dragons and an arrow leading down to a baby dragon. "All natural born Cursed will appear to be either male or female. However, they carry both eggs and sperm. Two Cursed who mate will end up with a cubling, they're ridiculously fertile with each other. It doesn't matter which appears female or male, or if it's two males and two females, which ever of them gains the upper hand when they're trying to bite the other to trigger the mating fever will impregnate the other. They're unbelievably vicious during that first fight each trying to get the 'male' role."

Looking at Kurt Paul gives a tired smile, "Kurt would you say that David has at least tried to be gentle with you? I mean when it came to the actual bite, to watching over you while you had the fever, doing his best to take into account your human fragility at that point?"

Other than being made to mate with Karofsky and being forced to live here Kurt can't disagree so he nods, "Yes."

"Good. David's been taught to realise that we're different to him, that we can't and won't be receptive to the type of courting natural born think are normal. If one Cursed desires to mate with another they will hunt, stalk, and attempt to ambush their future mate. They will end up taking items that are considered treasured by the other, they will invade their territory, push into their personal space, touch without asking permission."

Swallowing Kurt can remember most of those things, oh sweet heaven the cake topper, that's why the jock took the cake topper. The shoves, the pushes, the pressing close, why every time Kurt had turned around the jock was always there. It made a very frightening type of sense.

"It's instinct in them. They really can't help it. The other Cursed will often be receptive and then they'll start doing the same back, each trying to out do each other and prove that they're a good and strong mate. Or they'll take exception fight and only one will walk away. If they're receptive it will build until they fight for the 'male' role, the first to trigger the mating fever in the other wins. About ten minutes later they start physically mating and copulation occurs."

Oh my.

Kurt stiffens on the couch and he can see his dad stirring, Paul doesn't wait for dad to interrupt, "About nine months later, they mimic humans in this, the little cubling will be born, and six months after that the cubling is weaned, the parents will then end up fighting, this is usually triggered by hormones and I can't see why they'd do it because it seems to serve no purpose, but they fight to the death, one will defend the cubling, and one will try to kill it."

And he's right that serves no purpose in preserving the species.

"What?" Carole looks horrified.

Paul gives her a sad look, "That's really what happens. As far as I've been able to get from Diane, and they're all remarkably closemouthed about it, she's sired or given birth to a total of eight cublings, only three have survived and she's never attacked any of them, so she lost five out of eight fights. Even Marcus has been pregnant and given birth, he lost his cubling too, Kitty nearly saved hers. And the only reason Diane didn't lose David was because Marcus and Kitty had been hanging around nearby and apparently David's a bit of a fighter and hung onto the hamstring of the other Cursed."

It's horrible.

Kurt stares at Paul and then at the other two mates who are visibly upset.

"I can only guess at Diane's age, I think it's somewhere between one hundred and one fifty. Marcus is about eighty. And Kitty's nearly fifty. Only David is close to the age he looks, he's only about a year older than you are Kurt," Paul drops another bombshell and Kurt just nods feeling numb from the earlier news.

Carole interrupts, "But the babies, I mean cublings, you said Kurt could get David pregnant and Penny's had a human child with Marcus."

And those are all very good points.

"That's a mating with a human, it's a bit different. We can't fight for dominance to trigger the mating fever, and we can either get them pregnant or they get us pregnant. It means we have long term relationships with them, and we can have multiple childbirths, and unless there are accidents all the children will survive," Carole relaxes at Paul's words.

"In fact David will start to go into heat in the next few weeks, which means Kurt's in for an interesting few days when it happens. David will be extra affectionate and he'll be angling for Kurt to mount him, I'm going to assume that since Kurt's never had a boyfriend he's never done anything physical?" And now everyone's staring at him.

Shaking his head rapidly Kurt flushes when Puck chuckles at him.

"That's fine Kurt," Paul reassures him even as dad looks relieved too, "Just pet David and make him purr. And don't mount him without using protection."

"I wouldn't... I mean I won't... I... I won't need the protection because we're not... You know... It's not an issue," Kurt stammers and he can feel the flush on his face deepening.

"Really?" Anton grins at him, "Because they can be very persuasive and they can go for hours."

"Anton," Paul tells the man off, "If Kurt's not ready for that part of their relationship, then he's not ready, there's time for that later on."

Wishing the floor would open up and swallow him Kurt sits there and hopes Paul goes on with his lecture.

Thankfully Paul does, "So that's the main physical differences. And I've already told you about putting your hands on him and pushing, that's always a good one. Most of everything else deals with sex and coping with a hormonal Cursed when they're pregnant."

Not something Kurt wants to think about just yet.

"Hmm, you're mating is very new so we'll take David off active status for now, once you two are more used to each other we'll start him back on his duties a bit at a time. We might need to pull you from school to help him but we'll hide that with doctor and dentist visits," Paul jots down some notes.

"Duties?" Finn frowns.

"Oh, yes, all registered Cursed, which all of the family are, have certain duties, like patrolling territories, hunting down and killing rogue Cursed, training with the armed forces, helping with missing person cases, search and rescues, those kind of things," Paul explains.

Kurt just nods, Karofsky does all of those things?

Finn puts his hand up, "Yes Finn?" Paul's fighting a smile, Finn has that effect on people.

"Where are they? They said they had to go out and you wouldn't let us talk about them until they were gone," Kurt's fairly certain he should be the one asking all of these questions.

"They've gone to David's bit of territory and they will have taken the clothes Kurt had on during the mating fever. They're probably rolling all over the clothes and trying to get as much of the new scent mingled in with their own to get Kurt fixed in as one of the pack as quickly as possible. And their hearing is so good I didn't want them to overhear if anyone had a little breakdown," Paul gives Kurt a look.

Frowning Paul turns to Kurt, "Actually Kurt you're taking this very calmly. How are you feeling?"

Shrugging Kurt says, "Fine, I think, a bit numb."

That gets a worried exchange of glances, Paul nods, "Okay I'll talk to David for you, I'll ask him to keep his distance for a bit, to give everything a chance to seep through to you, if you think you're about to lose it and need to scream or run just say you're about to have a human moment and let it all out."

He's coped with so much in his life he can cope with this. He might have lost his chance of being on Broadway, or doing something with his life, but at least Paul's little lecture has given him some perspective, he can save lives, just by doing nothing but sitting still with Karofsky, because having Karofsky around will lessen the chances of spontaneous Cursed happening and going on murderous rampages.

"Okay," Kurt agrees.

Everything's happened so quickly he needs some time to himself, to try and sort it all out, to try and cope with this new life of his.

"Oh Kurt," Paul says, "Before I forget, all of your clothes and school stuff is turning up today, we have some emergency wardrobes and dressers for you. Do you want them sent straight up to your room?"

Nodding Kurt says, "Yes please," and he can hide in there with his clothes it'll take forever to sort everything and make sure there are no creases.

"And while I think of it, the agencies have thrown away all your creams and things, they've replaced them with organic natural versions," All this and he has to give up his skin care? "Most of the new things are better for you and if you ask David he'll give you the scent marking oil he makes, it's far better for your skin even in the short term than those things you had."

Unconsciously Kurt's hand falls to the patch of underarm skin that's smoother and the best he's ever felt before, a fevered flashback of Karofsky rubbing something oily there and he frowns.

"It's their noses," Paul's explaining, "Most modern perfumes make their noses itch and it stinks to them, something more natural and less in your face is better for them."

Hiding his sigh Kurt can't help thinking that this mating is getting worse and worse.

Everyone ends up chatting about little things and Kurt sits there stewing, he really wishes Karofsky had never laid eyes on him but things could be a lot worse.

"Wait a minute," Kurt sits upright. "You're not their biological father?"

Mid sentence Paul turns and says, "No, I'm actually sterile, so I can't give Diane children or cublings, not that it bothers her or the others they've all adopted me as their 'dad' anyway."

"But if you can't get her pregnant why did she mate you?" It doesn't make sense.

Shifting uncomfortably Paul rubs his face, "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that for a while. Most matings are to make children or cublings. In the case of Cursed mating Cursed, it's only to make cublings. In the case of humans it can be for much more complicated reasons."

"Yeah like what?" Puck says with his mouth full and Kurt glares at the teen, he carefully forgets the times he gets excited and talks with his full.

"Diane had almost lost her cubling, and the group defence of David built bonds that are rare among Cursed, she wasn't looking for more offspring, she was looking for something else, she was looking for love."

Oh.

Stunned, yet again, Kurt can only sit there and stare at Paul, a man who's in love with Diane, Penny who's happy and apparently throws plates and gushes over her Marcus, and Anton who seems to love his Kitty too.

It's a strange thought but Kurt wonders if there's a chance for him to, maybe, have a kind of happy ever after. He might want New York and bright lights and a man who's dapper and suave and sophisticated, but he remembers that Karofsky did get him a room he can turn into a giant wardrobe, perhaps he might not be completely miserable here and they could always go on vacations and things.

Actually he might even be able to help other gay kids in the community, if they make Karofsky come out at school and by some miracle they all survive the fall out from it, it might make people change their minds, it might encourage others to find a way to be themselves.

He can sacrifice his own future so that others can have a future, so that someone won't have to go for a walk and get bitten and then go on a rampage destroying lives and families. So that kids don't have to be afraid to be a bit different and don't have to be thrown into dumpsters just because they're fabulous.

A giggle from Violet and there's a whole new future he never thought he could have, children, some would be human like him, some would be Cursed like Karofsky.

He might never love the jock but maybe they could settle into a relaxed and comfortable relationship. Hugging himself he touches the big shapeless jersey, while it isn't him, his mate had gone out of his way to try and look after him, to make sure he was warm.

Biting his lip Kurt settles back and contemplates a different life, but one that would have meaning. Around him small talk starts up and he catches the odd glance thrown his way as he struggles to come to terms with the massive disruptions in his life, he catches his dad sneaking a small nibble from the tray and the way Carole smacks his hand so he puts it back and picks up a carrot slice instead.

He still has his family. Things could be a lot worse.

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><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.


	8. Chapter 8

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

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><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 8<strong>

Caught up in the future and it's implications to his life it takes Kurt a few minutes before he puts his hand up, unconsciously mimicking Finn from earlier.

"Yes Kurt," Paul turns to him.

"So what happens now? I mean, tonight, tomorrow, school, and having friends over?" He's still dazed from everything.

"Well tonight you sleep in your new room, with David, just be firm and say no if he asks for anything physical, I don't think he will, we've explained you won't be interested for some time. Tomorrow you're free to do whatever you want, please feel free to explore, I like the roof top garden and I know Vi is partial to the swimming pool at the back of the house. School is school, the only addition will be David in Glee Club with you. Friends," the man hesitates, "Kurt I'm sorry but we have to protect the family, you can't have friends over."

No friends?

"But what about sleepovers?" He's shocked and upset at not being able to be with his girls.

"While you're at the beginning of your mating it's best not to leave David at night, and if they came here they'd know David was Cursed," Paul tries to explain.

"Why?" Finn asks, "It's a hotel, tell 'em you're doing it up and we'll say something's wrong with the house, and you let us stay because Dave was a dick to Kurt."

That makes sense.

They all stare at Paul who's startled, "Um..."

"Hey," Now Finn's excited, "We could have Glee parties here, and pool parties, they'd have to get to know Dave, and we're so unpopular no one else in school's gonna come here," looking like he's just solved world hunger Finn settles back and grins.

"Um..." Paul shrugs, "I don't know Finn, letting others into their den, their most closely guarded territory, is a big thing for them. They only caved on yours and Kurt's family because they can see that it's two packs joining as one through mating."

"Leave it to us," Anton smiles and glances at Penny, "If we do it right and make sure we have the right plans in place to limit people coming here, to get them background checked and stuff then it means Vi can have friends over too."

"That's a great idea," Penny jumps on it, "And maybe Kurt could have a sleepover at a friend's as a trial run, Dave can see if lurking outside protecting him is good enough to satisfy the mating, and maybe Vi can start spending time with her friends."

This has the ring of a very familiar argument and Kurt watches Paul struggle with it, shoulders slumping, "Fine, but you're telling Di, I'm not touching this one, I'm not having my mate territorial and angry at me."

"What about saying only a few friends are allowed over at a time?" Puck joins in, "And now that Dave's suddenly gay, with Kurt living here too we don't want the jocks and homophobes to know where the house is, no one in Glee will breathe a word of it. Hey," he leans forward, "What if the reason the Hudmels had to move out was because of those idiots? So Kurt's here incognito?" And the teen is just as pleased as Finn had been.

"It's a good cover story," dad adds, "It gives a valid reason why we left a perfectly good house, why you'd offer us a permanent roof over our heads, and I'm assuming Kurt's going to be hanging around law enforcement when Dave has to work, so it's an ongoing covering story. The Glee kids are good kids, they tried to step up and protect Kurt from Dave, they'll watch Kurt's back at school and Dave's just because they're living in the same place now."

That makes much more sense. Kurt wants to add some arguments of his own but keeps quiet and lets the others fight this, he can join in later if he's needed.

"I…" Paul thinks it over and then says weakly, "But if those jocks and homophobes do come here…"

"Put the gate on," Anton leans back into the sofa sighing softly, "The damn agencies have all been hassling us for years about it, just let them man the gates, they already have surveillance all around the outer and inner fences." Laughing the red head adds, "And you know how much fun those four have when they sneak in and out just to annoy the agents manning the TV screens. Hell the President's probably on a par with our security."

There were surveillance cameras up?

"Wondered what those were for on the front gate," Puck mutters.

"Cameras?" Carole's startled.

"Hmm? Oh yes," Paul seems calmer now he's back in lecture mood, "Only on the fences, nothing in the den, or on the outside walls, there are about three 'walls', the obvious outer one, a middle one with no fence, and an inner one a few hundred feet into the woods." Chuckling the man says, "And yes the four of them love sneaking up on the cameras and then sticking their faces right up against them, they normally do it in pairs with one lurking outside the surveillance room to listen to any new agents screaming in surprise."

"Do you remember the guy who fainted?" Anton's laughing, "They had to get an ambulance in and the director of the agency did a video call to ask Kitty not to do that again."

This mating thing all seemed so easy when they're all laughing and happy. Then they got serious and started planning how to get it past their mates, to talk the Cursed into letting his happen without triggering their protective instincts.

"They live in the 'now'," Paul explains, "Some of them can make plans, and if you can talk them into turning whatever it is into a type of hunt they'll spend hours working on it, otherwise they don't want to know and get bored really quickly. We have to convince them this is all really boring, and then give them the main highlights covering every angle that could lead to an intruder, or one of us getting hurt in anyway."

Checking the stopwatch Paul mentions they don't have a lot of time left before they'll be back and they have to do this with a united front, Cursed tended to find weak points and would then prod them until the whole thing fell apart.

"You could play up the rumour that everyone thinks Dave's mom is in the military," Puck suggests, "It would give a reason why no one ever normally goes to Dave's home, why no one really sees Diane, and how you can afford this fucking huge hotel."

"Language," dad corrects automatically, it bounces off of Puck, at least dad tried.

"That could work," Paul's excited, "No one would have to see the Cursed, only David, they'd be happier about that."

With a few more adjustments to the plan, they end up with the teens feigning ignorance of the exact nature of the threat causing the Hudmels to move, Karofsky's mom would be 'away' most of the time, and Kurt would have to pretend to live in the suite with his family when friends were over. Other than access to the roof, the fifth floor was off limits to anyone not already in this room or the four Cursed wherever they were.

It takes a little bit of arguing but Kurt convinces them to let him call Mercedes later and fill her in on the new living arrangements. They'd need her help on Monday when Karofsky joined New Directions.

Sighing Kurt's still annoyed that the boy is going to be there, it's supposed to be Kurt's club to get away from everything, at least he doesn't have to be so afraid of the jock anymore, and the difference in Karofsky's behaviour from how he was at school was startling, but probably since the Cursed had won the mating fight he felt he could relax.

Glancing out of a window Kurt wonders where they are right now.

The sun is warm on his scales and Dave lifts his head to gaze into the water rushing past, he'd love to just spring into it's depths and glide through the water but it'd wash Kurt's scent off of him too, and it smells far too good to give that up.

Winter was nearly here and this might be the last time he got to come out here now he's mated but he wants to get back to check on Kurt, he trusts the other mates to take care of the boy, he just wants to be the one to do it and maybe earn a petting or two.

Lazily getting to his feet he snakes his head down and under to grab the ruined clothes with his mouth, they smell tasted like a heady mix of Kurt and the rest of the family.

The other three have shifted to stare at him. Backing up slowly and being careful not to stare at them so they won't feel challenged he shakes himself and spreads his wings to let them know he's going to the den.

Getting to their own feet they do the same and they all look to mom who takes a few steps before she runs for the rock they'd just been laying on and uses it as a spring board to jump up and gain height as she sweeps her wings down and starts to climb into the sky.

Marcus and Kitty line up to go and Dave waits his turn at the back, he knows he could fight the others for a higher position in the pack but no one really cares where they are, except mom who's the leader, and Dave really doesn't want that position.

Running he leaps upwards and takes off easily, normally there tended to be handy thermals that helped to gain altitude, and they soon settle into formation and turn towards home winging their way steadily through the air.

Familiar glints of sunshine from the swimming pool that was out the back and they circled to land, here they have the space to come to a running stop. Folding his wings back he trots ahead of the others, he really wants to see Kurt again soon.

Grabbing the door handle with his claw he's careful how he turns it and then he trundles in to his spot, there he falls to the floor and hurries through the change. Bones and muscles twist and shift in his body and he reabsorbs the scales until he's naked on the tiled floor.

Standing up he waits for them to get in and he closes the door behind them. Pulling on his clothes he snatches the tatters of cloth that Kurt had been wearing and reluctantly puts them in the bin.

Running noiselessly through the den he heads for the humans and makes sure he gets there in time so if they were being sneaky they wouldn't get caught out.

And he was right they were being sneaky about something, he points to his ear and then back the way he'd just come, "We're back, they should be here soon, did you have a nice lecture?"

Sitting on the floor near Kurt he drops his head back onto the sofa.

"It's been productive," dad says, and they've been really sneaky. Mom and his sibs would know something was up and he's sure dad's about to hit them with it anyway. "Did you have a nice time too?"

"Yeah, the flight was easy, my sunning rock was warm and the sunshine was nice, I miss it in winter," Dave smiles contentedly.

"It'll be here again son," dad says gently, "And until then you can play in the snow, this year Vi should be big enough to stay out longer, she loved the piggy back rides you all gave her last year."

"They were awesome," Dave agrees as he turns his head having heard the others, they stalk into the room and he smirks, "Beat you, what kept you?"

Marcus snarls softly, "Little cubs shouldn't be rude, just because they're mated now," and then spotting Penny the Cursed bounds over in one jump, he collapses with his head in Penny's lap, the human obliges and pets the back of Dave's sib's neck. And Marcus' purr's loud in the room.

"Show off," Kitty snorts and gracefully gets to her knees to let Anton pet her.

"Cubs," mom struts to dad and wraps her arms around him, he hugs her back, "I hope all the children behaved."

"Of course they did," dad reaches up to pet mom who sags against him.

"My Sweet, the sun was so warm, perhaps you would like to go up to the roof, and I could sun myself some more, I promise to wrap a wing around you so you'll be nice and warm too as you read," she tries to tempt him.

"Maybe," dad hedges, "But we have something to discuss first darling."

It was interesting to watch, Dave sits back and lets it unfold, the way the mates were careful how they explained it cutting off each argument the Cursed could come up with. As he's been out among the humans the most he knows they need other humans, some more than others, and he'd wondered if Kurt would pine without his friends.

The mates and family have set it up so that the Glee kids could ask but wouldn't get any answers and they would assume the reason was that the younger Hudmels and Karofskys hadn't been told the answers. None of them would try to ask the adults, and if they did they'd be turned down.

Neat.

Turning to smile at Kurt he says, "Hey that means you can talk to Mercedes today then."

Looking down at the Cursed resting on the floor, his head lolling on the sofa Kurt blinks in surprise, it seemed his mate wasn't fighting this. Karofsky even appeared to be amused, but then the fact he'd gotten there first and warned them the other three were coming was interesting too.

This was not the same boy who'd bullied him in school, though he now knows the Cursed had been trying to start mating with him, it had still been scary to live through.

"Yes," Kurt agrees and he really wants to talk to his friend, even if he can't tell her everything.

In the background the three Cursed are losing quickly, Kitty is the first to give way, followed by Marcus and then Diane huffs and struggles before she puts a few more stipulations in, that visitors had to be announced first.

"It's a pity we can't tell them we have dogs," Karofsky mentions, "That way we can keep an eye on our 'guests' and they'll never suspect, and we can move about freely whenever we want to."

Diane gives in at that point and Kurt smiles at the jock in gratitude, he can have his friends come to visit.

The meeting breaks up and Vi finishes her program noticing the Cursed are back and comes to hug her dad, watching Marcus with Vi Kurt has to blink and wonder just what Karofsky would be like as a dad.

Turning the girl notices the jock and squeals, "Unca Davie!" She throws herself at him and Karofsky hugs her and rocks her as she clambers all over him.

With Vi in the room they take it in turns to explain what's going to happen now and about the only thing the girl concentrates on is that she gets to go to sleepovers now and can have sleepovers too. Excited she bounces about beside herself and wanting friends over and to go over to theirs all at the same time.

In the end Penny steps in and picks her up so she can have some quiet time before lunch, otherwise she could make herself sick.

Anton volunteers to cook a light lunch and Kurt gets told to rest after lunch, he's only just completed the mating fever he should give himself a rest. Annoyed he crosses his arms but then his dad gives him a look and Kurt can almost hear the reasonableness as he gets a 'talk' so he gives in with very bad grace.

Huffing he lets Karofsky pick him back up and take him to the elevator to their room, or rooms really. Once safely inside Karofsky whispers, "Do you wanna walk on your own?"

Relieved that someone wasn't treating him like an invalid Kurt nods, his knees are a bit wobbly and the Cursed boy hovers nearby but Kurt's still walking on his own and he opts to walk into the bedroom, then through the study to his wardrobe.

Paul was right his clothes had all been delivered and were hanging on various rails. Makeshift cardboard shelves were up against a wall and he rummaged a bit, grudgingly he admits whoever had done the moving were professionals because there was not one crease on anything. His shoes and boots were lined up neatly, his hats were stacked in their boxes or were on a hat stand.

He has no complaints and nods to himself.

Dave leans against the doorframe and watches his mate move slowly about the new room, he poked and prodded and then finally nodded. He liked it, he really liked it.

Visibly weakening Kurt staggers slightly and Dave walks slowly towards him holding a hand out. To his shock Kurt only eyes it up for about a minute and then accepts his help.

He's done something right, his mate was not screaming in fear at his touch, it would take lots more time though for Kurt to want more. He's read rubbish romance novels, frankly the women in them were crazy and the men idiots but it always took time for the women to change their minds and fall in love, or the men 'coz Kurt's a dude, he would have to prove to Kurt he's a good mate. And he remembers that it took time for his dad to fall in love with his mom, he's confident that it'll happen eventually.

At least Karofsky hadn't done anything more than hold a hand out and Kurt leans on it hating to be so weak. He leads the way to the sitting room and collapses onto a sofa.

The other boy's head has jerked up and the jock says, "Lunch is here."

And then Anton is there with the nice caddy. "Here brought you some pasta, fruit, and your phone," the man winks, "Enjoy talking to your friend and playing with your wardrobe, oh and Paul's persuaded Di into letting your friend come over tomorrow as it's Sunday, just don't blurt out anything you shouldn't."

"Thank you Anton," Kurt smiles feeling much more hopeful, and starts to get his food as the man leaves.

Tucking into his pasta he looks over at Karofsky who's still staring. "Sorry was some of this for you too?" Though the portion is only big enough for one.

"No, I ate a day or so ago, I'm good," the boy settles more into the chair, "Once you've eaten I'll take the tray downstairs and you can have some privacy with your friend."

"Thank you," Kurt's startled at the boy's thoughtfulness, yes maybe this can work out for everyone, he might have to stay in Lima, but it won't be all bad.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.

Sorry if the last chapter was a little fuzzy around the edges, and I have been asked: Dave mated to Kurt - a human. Did he have a choice? What casued it?  
>It didn't seem like he chose it, but if not, what determines who a Cursed<br>gets mated to? It sounds like Dave's family are all (now) mating with humans  
>after previously mating with other Cursed.<p>

Answer – Mating to a Natural Cursed is purely instinctive, they can steer it a little, ie the urge to have cublings will cause them to more receptive to other Cursed which could trigger them to start mating other unpaired Cursed and pursuing them. Or, in the case of Dave's family they can 'prefer' humans having had bad experiences with other Cursed (death of their cublings), but humans are so much more fragile that they usually don't survive the mating process and the fever can kill them if they are not taken care of (Kurt likened it to flu).

So in a sense Dave did have a choice but he's in a family unit with a young child, all of his family are happily mated to humans, he has a strong bond to his 'Dad', and as we know Kurt might be outwardly a cold bitch (defences) but he's a marshmallow to his dad and often to his friends. Dave's older and in Cursed terms he's an adult capable of having cublings and Kurt's grown up since last year and Dave's instincts kicked in zeroing in on Kurt and driving Dave to Mate with him.

I hope that wasn't too fuzzy but the answer is No, it's instinctive, and Yes they can steer it a little to a more preferred Mate.

Also I've posted a related story called 'Cursed Prisoner' under the tags of and , it' covers a little of the back story where Paul and Diane met (the those who haven't found it yet), it's not essential to the story but you might like it.


	9. Chapter 9

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 9<strong>

Karofsky had walked him to the study in their suite of rooms and helped him sit on one of the soft padded seats before the boy had vanished to take the tray down to the kitchen. The view of the back and the woods is breathtaking, it's going to be wonderful in summer to sit here and read with the balcony window open letting in a gentle breeze.

Picking up his phone he sighs and makes the call, after all the excitement of the wedding and expulsion dad had talked the school into letting Kurt and Finn have time off with homework to do. Give them some down time he'd said.

"Kurt! Where the hell have you been? We've been worried sick. Nothing from you or Finn and Puckerman keeps vanishing off not saying anything. You better have a damn good reason for scaring me and standing me up at our mall date," she launches straight in.

He doesn't have to act, or make himself sob softly down the phone, he's missed her, even the last few days he's missed her terribly and there's no way he's putting her in harms way but he wishes she'd been at the house along with Puck so she'd know everything and could see this place. So she could give him her input too.

"Kurt?" Her voice is soft and scared. "Kurt, sweetie, please talk to me, can you talk to me?"

"Mercedes, oh god Mercedes," he's crying now, he's been so afraid, Paul's lecture has helped him understand why they rushed to get David to bite him and the radical change in the jock's proof they did the right thing at the time, but he's still stuck mated to a boy he doesn't even like.

"Kurt," her voice is wobbling, "Kurt you tell me where you are and I'll come get you, nothing's getting in my way, you hear me, you hold on Boo."

"No. No Mercedes, it's just this is the first time I've had a chance to really stop and think," he breaks in. "Mercedes something has happened, something big and I want you to stay away from any of our old homes, even the new one we were going to move into," he might as well start feeding her the lies now.

"Why?" the bewildered word floats down the line.

"Just don't give those people a chance to find you, they're busy with us at the moment, and we're somewhere safe far away from them," he's getting into this, he will protect her, his family, his new in laws, and little Vi somehow.

"Kurt, where are you?"

"Are you somewhere you can talk?" Damn he should have thought about that first.

"I'm in my room, hang on I'll close my door," he can hear the noise of it shutting, "Alright I'm alone."

"I'm at the Karofsky's…"

He doesn't get any further because she's raging, "What? Where? How did that monster get you there?" She's so much closer than she can possibly know.

"Calm down, I'm safe," Well as safe as anyone living with four Cursed can be. "Karofsky threatened to kill me because I learnt something about him, he's gay."

Absolute silence down the phone and for a second he thinks he's lost the signal.

"He's what?" She's incredulous, "That walking gorilla can't be gay, he can't, he's just not fabulous."

It makes him chuckle, "Contrary to popular belief being fabulous is not a requirement to being gay, though it would be nice if we could add it in there. And yes he's gay, he's very much into guys, and if people had found out can you imagine what they'd do him, it's bad enough what they do to me, but to a jock? A manly man?"

"OH," She's shocked.

"Actually him being so horrible to me has worked out in our favour, his parents feel so guilty about what he did that they've offered us a suite of rooms for free. No one can get in here at us, no one. Diane, that's Karofsky's mom, she has," he pauses for effect, "Connections, don't ask me I don't know what they are and I don't want to know, and we're going to be okay here."

"You're really okay?" It's barely a whisper.

Rubbing his neck where Karofsky bit him he smiles ruefully, she can't see it but he nods too, "Yes Mercedes I'm really okay, but we need to talk and make plans right now," and not give her time to think about this. "Karofsky's coming back to school…"

"Hell no!" Is her instant refusal.

"Yes," Kurt tells her wishing he could scream hell no too. "We'll all be there on Monday, and we'll have an emergency Glee meeting where he's going to join the Glee club," damn it, it's not fair.

"Boo… Are you sure?"

"No, but…" He wants to tell her the truth so badly, to run, to wake up. "I don't have to be afraid of him anymore Mercedes. You'll see tomorrow. Dad's working on them for me now, so you can come and visit. Bring your swimsuit."

"Hmm, and why should I bring my swimsuit Mr Hummel? Are you telling me I am a fine piece of real estate and you are finally going to tap that?"

Bursting out laughing he holds his sides and keeps going until he can barely breathe, panting he tells her, "Thank you Mercedes I needed that." And he had, how long has it been since he's laughed so much?

"You've been wound tighter than a spring baby boy, first Karofsky, then the wedding and now this, whatever this is. You're welcome and I'll happily bring my swimsuit if you promise to tell me why…" She fishes for information and he's got his breath back now.

"Well I have been reliably informed that there may be a pool on the premises, that's if we don't get lost trying to find it," she screams down the phone at him, "I thought you'd like that sweetie."

Settling back against the cushions he smiles, "Now about this mall date I missed, tell me everything you bought," that diverts her and him for a while.

Listening at the door Dave nods, Kurt's covered most of it and his mate's so into clothes he'll be there for an hour or so.

Leaping over the banister he drops all the way down to the ground floor, a gasp makes him spin to see Finn standing there with a sandwich, did the guy ever stop eating?

"Dude that was awesome," and Finn walks towards him looking and smelling impressed. "My games console is still in boxes can we use yours?"

"Um Kurt's on the phone to Mercedes," Dave hedges not really wanting people in his den.

"That's cool you can carry him out for privacy if he needs it. Hey Puck? Games are on at Kurt's and Dave's!" Finn grins at Dave, the Cursed blinks realising he's pleased Finn's named the den jointly but confused because somehow he's just lost control of the conversation.

"Um…" He holds a finger up but the two teens get in the lift and he's left standing there feeling dumb. God he hates humans sometimes.

Jumping back up he leaps a few times to beat them up there and then he crosses his arms and tries his best to be intimidating and to back them down, it's his den, well his and Kurt's now, he's not having just anyone in there.

The elevator doors open and the two boys spill out not paying him any attention at all as they stroll up the corridor to his den. Unsure of how to stop them without seriously injuring them or killing them he trails along behind wondering what the fuck just happened.

They don't even knock they barge straight into his den, "KURT!" Finn yells and Dave winces at the volume, "KURT!"

"WHAT!" Kurt yells back.

"DUDE GONNA PLAY VIDEO GAMES!" Finn tells him and Dave wants to bang his head on the wall, what the fuck are they yelling for? Kurt's only in the next room or so.

"OKAY! DID YOU ASK KAROFSKY IF YOU COULD USE HIS CONSOLE?" At least Kurt understood that Finn and Puck should have asked and now Dave waits.

But Finn just yells, "YEAH, AND HE SAID YEAH."

What? He hadn't said 'yeah' he'd said 'um' and told them Kurt was on the phone. What kinda weird as shit human thing was this? Maybe he should go get dad and get him to explain it to him. The boys are arguing about what game to play and he sidles closer, maybe he can explain that they'd misunderstood him.

The game is loaded in front of his eyes and a controller shoved into his hands, "Hey man you cool being player 3?" Puck asks and then presses the button anyway. Dave's fairly sure he hadn't said yes but he sits and plays, this is a blending in skill he has to have so that humans don't realise he's not a boy like them.

It's a stupid game anyway.

In the other room Kurt's talking about colours and materials and things.

Sighing he presses buttons and tries not to kill the other two characters too much, the teens were just mashing buttons and hoping, haven't they even read the manual to know what the hell they're supposed to be doing?

Giggling softly Kurt smiles at the description Mercedes is giving him of the socks and the guy trying to sell them to her and angling to get her mom's number at the same time. "That's dad," she says, "I have to go Kurt."

"Okay," he really doesn't want her to go, "I'll give you the directions tomorrow and remember no gossiping about this, we'll spring it on them on Monday. The less people who know the easier it will be."

"I know Kurt, you can count on me, love you," she says fondly.

"Love you too," and he hangs up reluctantly.

From the sitting room, he has a sitting room now, he can clearly hear Finn and Puck whooping. Oh dear, if they upset Karofsky he might take a swing at them.

Intending to rescue his new brother and the idiot friend he stops in the doorway to see Finn and Puck frantically hitting buttons for all they're worth and only just staying ahead of Karofsky who's calmly pressing his buttons with much more practical results for his efforts.

Finn and Puck are leaning forward and getting carried away, while the Cursed boy looks like he'd rather be somewhere else, he smiles and says the right things but he does seem a bit overwhelmed.

Struggling not to giggle Kurt smoothes his face and then sneaks up behind the two teens, Karofsky's seen him and has flicked his eyes over a few times but not said anything. Clapping his hands and yelling, "GUYS!" Kurt gets them both to scream and jump losing the game they're playing.

"Kurt!" Finn whines, "Bro not cool. How was Mercedes?"

"Fine," and Kurt can't keep the smile off of his face, "She's coming over tomorrow and she's bringing her swimsuit, that should keep her distracted. She's promised not to tell anyone until Monday, then she'll back us up."

"Awesome, that is one strong sexy momma," Puck smirks and Kurt rolls his eyes at him.

"Now I'm off the phone and you two have died, again, you can make yourself useful and go get food, healthy food," he sees them exchange glances, "and we can watch a movie or something."

Having appealed to their stomachs they wander off to go and round up supplies like the big tough men that they are, he already knows they're going to raid the kitchen to find as much unhealthy rubbish as they can.

Once they're gone he glances at Karofsky who's gone very still and is back to staring at his hands, "Did Finn really ask you if he could play video games?" They've been trying to teach him manners, they really have, but Finn's so good natured he just assumes everyone wants to play video games.

"Yes, he asked, but I'm sure I only said 'um' and that you were on the phone and then they were kinda here and I had a controller," the jock waves the controller, "And then we were playing video games. Did I miss something because I didn't say 'yeah' but they did it anyway?"

"Ah you've met the twin forces of nature called Finn and Puck, if they wanted in my old room to play games because the TV's good, well it was good," he corrects, "I had to chase them out or threaten to shave their heads, they tend to just make themselves at home otherwise," Kurt's amused that Karofsky the big bad scary Cursed who can turn into a dragon just got beat by Finn who can't even throw a punch without endangering himself.

Sliding around the sofa he sits down in the middle not that far from the boy, "Thank you for not beating them too badly on the game they tend to sulk and annoy you even more if you do," he's learnt that from experience, "I'll explain to Finn that you really need to say the word 'yes', but he's not gotten it yet."

Dave nods relieved that it wasn't something he'd done, it was just Finn and Puck. "Cool, thanks."

His mate's heart kicks up and starts going faster, Dave's not doing anything he's only sitting there quietly, "Um Karofsky?"

"Yes Kurt," he waits and can see his mate's fingers twisting together nervously.

"What happens tonight? I mean, about sleeping arrangements?" The boy's blushing and not looking at him.

Ah dad and the other mates had told him about this, "Um, we both sleep in the bed, but it's pretty big so unless you wiggle a lot in your sleep you'll wake up on your side," he feels his way along this conversation. "Unless you get cold easily, we can get you a hot water bottle or an electric blanket if you need them?"

It seems to be the right thing to have said as Kurt relaxes and breathes out, "I'm sure I'll be fine, thank you."

"You're welcome," he's pleased to have remembered the manners thing and he's pleased Kurt's more relaxed too. "Was there something in particular you wanted to watch?"

"Finn said you had Harry Potter?" Kurt's smiling so Dave takes that as a good thing.

"Yeah, the films are good but the books are better," not that many people he knows have read them.

"They are better, I'm happy with how they did the films and now when I read the books I have the voices and scenery fixed in my head," Kurt's resting back on the sofa. "And I love the broomstick scenes, it must be nice to fly."

"Dad says that, and yeah flying is kinda cool," he smirks and Kurt's head whips round.

"Oh, I forgot, you really can fly…"

It feels awkward so Dave gets up to turn the console off and put the first DVD in, handing Kurt the remote he sits back down and stares at the door, "Do you think they'll be much longer?"

"Depends on how much junk food they can stuff into their mouths before they get found out," Kurt's reply is dryly amused and he doesn't smell upset, Dave lets himself relax as the menu comes on screen. "Do you want to watch the special stuff?"

"Cool," Dave nods happy to spend some time alone with his mate.

Losing himself in the movie magic on screen Kurt ponders the riddle of his new boyfriend/mate, now the biting was out of the way the boy hadn't done anything, he seemed happy to go along with whatever Kurt wanted.

And the way Finn and Puck had run roughshod over him was very telling.

Karofsky did seem to be going out of his way to make Kurt comfortable and so far this mating thing wasn't terrible. Tomorrow with Mercedes was going to be fun, if stressful, and a trial run as to how Monday was going to go. Worst case they could buy the boy a place in Glee, Figgins would scream like a fangirl if they offered him money to let Karofsky join, which meant Mr Schue would back down, and Kurt could always walk away from his beloved Glee club if he had to, they didn't have enough numbers to compete at Regionals without him, and he's fairly sure he can take Finn and Puck with him.

Having located food Finn and Puck return with only lean supplies, apparently Anton had discovered them and then Carole had chased them out with slim pickings. Grabbing an apple Kurt sits back and then amuses himself as they decide where they're going to sit.

Finn wedges himself between Kurt and Karofsky while Puck lounges on the end. Turning to the Cursed boy Kurt's mortified when Finn tells him, "Dude, no offence and all, you're going to be my brother in law, but no making out with my little bro."

"Okay," the jock blinks a few times a flash of gold in his eyes, "But I think you'll find Kurt doesn't want to make out with me."

"I can take care of myself," Kurt huffs at the big lummox that's now his stepbrother.

"I know, I'm just protecting your virtue," Finn swipes the remote and the movie starts. Touched that the taller boy would do that Kurt munches on his apple and pretends everything is normal.

It lasts through dinner, Anton brings their food up for them, and then it's late and Puck has to go home, Finn follows him out and suddenly it's bedtime.

Nervously Kurt fidgets on the sofa as the final credits roll, he squeaks when Karofsky turns his head and asks, "You want me to take the empty dishes down to the kitchen?"

"Um… Yes, yes please, and I'll go get ready for bed," Kurt smiles bravely.

"Okay," and then the boy is gone and Kurt scurries through to his new giant wardrobe. Snatching his pyjamas he hurries to the bathroom to change in record time.

Eyeing up his new products he reads the labels and comes up with a new routine, he'll have to see how it goes. He's drawn to the soft smooth patch on his arm, Paul had hinted that it was caused by Karofsky and the boy's glands, he vaguely recalls a memory of the Cursed rubbing something oily in there.

Finishing his skin care for tonight he opens the bathroom door and peeks out.

The bedroom is empty.

Racing for the bed he gets under the covers on his side and pulls them up, Paul had told him to be firm with Karofsky and that the boy would accept his refusal, he's going to be fine, or he'll push on the boy's chest to tell him no.

Karofsky wanders in, then he watches as the jock closes all the curtains, then goes into the study, straining his ears he can hear curtains being closed and then the jock goes into the bathroom closing the door behind him.

Nibbling on his lower lip Kurt debates whether to fake sleep or not but he can't make his mind up and it's too late as the jock is coming towards the bed. Climbing in the other side the jock turns the lights off on a switch near the bedside cabinet, lays down on his side and says, "Night."

And that's it.

Relieved Kurt starts to relax as the boy's breathing evens out and he must be asleep now.

The bed really is so very comfortable, the sheets are of the highest quality and are soft yet warm. He knows he's spent hours asleep already but he soon starts to nod off, he'll need his energy to deal with Mercedes tomorrow.

His mate is on the edge of sleep so Dave continues to feign slumber. Another useful human blending in skill. He didn't do sleepovers often but he'd never been caught out before. Cursed only need an hour of sleep a night so he's going to have to lay here for hours.

The mates and even his sibs and mom had told him that sleeping or appearing to sleep in the same bed with Kurt was a good thing. It would help foster trust and love and other weird human things.

Luckily he'd stowed a book away and he quietly picks it up. The dark won't hamper him in the slightest and he starts to read, tomorrow was going to be a bit of a tough day and he hopes Finn and Puck don't just barge into his den again, that was annoying. Though Kurt had said he'd had to defend his old den from them, perhaps he can set Kurt on them, that could work.

Outside he can hear movement and his sibs and mom are going on patrol while he's stuck in here. Sighing softly he tries to lose himself in the book and keeps his ears pricked, he can be the main den guard tonight.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.


	10. Chapter 10

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 10<strong>

Dawn had broken and he'd finished his book an hour ago. Bored Dave listens to the den and the sounds of sleeping humans slumbering away while he's stuck here.

Beside him Kurt's curled up into a little ball not even the top of his head is poking out of the covers. At first he'd though his mate was cold but he thinks Kurt likes sleeping that way.

A change and a shift to a heartbeat and Anton's waking up in the den he shares with Kitty. She should be back from patrol soon and he sincerely hopes they don't have sex in the shower again, he's trying to be good around Kurt and sporting an erection won't help matters.

Today Mercedes was going to visit and Dave doesn't want to leave his mate's side but at the same time the two Gleeks needed to talk and do human stuff. He understands the bribe of a dip in the pool is good but he doubts the girl's going to be swayed to liking him that easily.

Thinking it over he remembers his comment about dogs, he could shift canine and act like a mapquest dog for Kurt. All the humans found the big den confusing and maze like, this way Kurt could have his alone time and Dave could keep an eye on him.

It was strange how humans who would converse with him when he was human shaped treated him like a fucking idiot when he was a 'dog' to their eyes. And he can use this as a blending in exercise for his canine skills.

Pleased with his idea he hears Anton get in the shower and then Vi's waking up so Penny will be soon, and sure enough little footsteps followed by a "VI!" happen.

Below them Burt's stirring, he's probably used to early starts with his job in the garage. Neither Carole nor Finn show any change. Dad got to bed late as he was reading so he won't be around for a while.

And finally Kurt's body starts to wake up.

Urgh, once Kurt's awake he can 'wake up' too, then he'll graciously let Kurt use the bathroom and hide his book back on the shelves in the study so Kurt won't notice.

Warm and comfortable Kurt wakes slowly, stretching he yawns and rolls over to see the lump in the bedding that was technically his mate. Sitting bolt upright Kurt drags the covers up like a shield and does a mental stock take of his body. Everything is as it should be he's fine.

Nibbling on his lip he wonders what he should do now, the etiquette of waking up in bed with someone who wasn't one of his girls eludes him and he simply stares at Karofsky who does a very credible impression of waking up, but Kurt knows a fake when he sees one.

"Morning," the Cursed rubs his eyes and doesn't really move very much, "Did you sleep well?"

"Wonderfully thank you, you?" Kurt asks.

"Awesome," the boy rumbles his voice a lot deeper than Kurt remembered. "You wanna use the bathroom first?"

"Yes please," and Kurt wiggles out of his side of the bed. Striding as confidently as he can he goes to his giant wardrobe and browses for his clothes for the day. Carrying them and his hair dryer through he closes the bathroom door behind him and breathes out. Well that was certainly easier than he thought it would be.

Kurt's in the bathroom so Dave sneaks out and puts the book back.

Mission accomplished.

Hanging around the study window he stares out at the woods his eyes drawn to the movements of all the creatures out there, they're too small for him to bother hunting them but he thinks up ways to catch and eat them to keep his skills honed.

In the bathroom the shower's been turned on and he's sure he can sneak back to bed before Kurt's out, though if he has clothes ready and makes the bed he might get on Kurt's good side.

The shower is amazing and Kurt luxuriates in it. This morning he has more time and he even plays with the light setting letting it flash the various colours at him, bathing him in a rainbow.

Various jets are used and this is indescribable when it comes to washing. Oh he could get used to this every single day. Though if the shower is good he's wondering what the decadent bath must be like. Karofsky had books and had admitted to reading Harry Potter, perhaps Kurt could borrow some and soak in the giant bath for a few days while he read them.

Reluctantly turning the shower off he steps out and gloats over the fluffy towels. He's even impressed with the products they've given him now he can study them properly, they were organic and very high end, far beyond his normal budget. Putting some hair mousse in his hair he turns on his hairdryer and starts styling it, nothing too drastic today, he wants to look relaxed and downplay things to Mercedes.

Lastly come his clothes and he lays down to wiggle the jeans over his hips, they always made his ass look fantastic and were his favourite pair, unfortunate he'd worn them too much and they'd faded ruining them for going out in.

A shirt and a scarf around his neck later, with a nice pair of socks and he was ready to face the day. Gathering his pyjamas he goes to the door and taking a deep breath prepares himself, only to walk out to see Karofsky making the bed and being domesticated.

"Hey, you finished?" The boy asks and Kurt nods, "Cool, I just made the bed, I won't be long and then I'll show you where the kitchen is," the jock brushes past him as he's stopped just outside the bathroom, and then he's left standing in the bedroom on his own.

Behind him the shower comes on and Kurt hurries away not wanting to think about the now naked boy in the shower. Going to sit on his side of the bed Kurt shakes his head, nothing about Karofsky made any sense to him apart from the fact the boy was still going out of his way to not do anything that made sense.

Any and all effects of the fever have faded and Kurt's fidgety, he wants to get on, and then his stomach rumbles loudly. Frowning he wonders if he can find the way to the kitchen on his own but this place is a maze, perhaps they have a handy floor plan he can borrow until he learns his way around.

He can hear the shower cut off and automatically tenses. The jock had been nice last night and hadn't done anything bad so Kurt waits some more. When the door opens the boy is fully dressed in another awful polo shirt.

"Ready for breakfast?" Karofsky asks.

"Yes," Kurt stands and hopes he doesn't have to be carried today, he's back to normal he can walk there himself.

"Cool, this way then," the Cursed boy plods past him and Kurt follows him to the lift where the boy prods the button, "See you downstairs," and then the boy hops over the banister and drops out of sight.

Gasping Kurt hurries over to see the jock land soundlessly and easily on the ground floor far below. That was a huge demonstration that Karofsky wasn't human and when the ding from the lift goes he hurries back to get in and try to think about the strangeness that is now his life.

Smoothly the elevator numbers go down and Kurt steps out to see the Cursed boy leaning against a column with a bored expression on his face, he hadn't been kidding yesterday when he'd said the lift was too slow for him.

Kurt was staring at him funny and his mate's heart was beating a little fast, pretending ignorance Dave pushes upright and leads the way to the kitchen pointing out landmarks for the boy so he could find his way here on his own. Independence was a big thing for the other mates, they liked to do things for themselves.

Walking into the kitchen he finds most of the humans have already gathered and Marcus was sitting there with Vi on his lap as she ate breakfast. Anton was cooking so Dave knows Kurt's going to love breakfast.

Making an excuse Dave leaves Kurt with the humans and runs back up the stairs to grab their clothes from yesterday. He debates on the nightwear but reasons it should be good for a few days. Shoving the stuff in the laundry he lurks and waits impatiently for the humans to eat, it was damned annoying that they had to eat a few times a day, how did they ever get anything done?

Sitting next to his dad as per Anton's instructions Kurt glances about the modern and yet olde worlde giant kitchen. Nothing in this hotel was small and he had to admire the giant cooker, wonderful and charming wooden table with matching chairs and so many gadgets he could spend hours in here cooking and baking.

Anton whips up an omelette and Kurt can't believe how good it is, he takes a gamble and a few things click into place, "You made the soup for me," he guesses, "Thank you it was delicious."

Beaming the red head nods, "Guilty, I'm glad you liked it, and Carole has hinted that you like to cook too, it'll be nice to have two more cooks in the house, instead of just me," he glances across to Penny who's pulling faces at a giggling Violet, "And it'll be a nice surprise to have someone who doesn't blow up ovens..."

Laughing the woman smirks, "You're just jealous that I can destroy kitchens with such amazing skill."

They end up bickering back and forth, it's clearly normal for them. It gives him time to check his dad's breakfast and he has no complaints, though if the way his dad is prodding the fruit on his plate's any indication his dad has a few complaints.

Carole and Paul soon join them as does a bleary eyed and half dressed Finn.

Other than Marcus there are no Cursed in the kitchen, and Marcus isn't eating anything, Kurt files that away under questions for later even if Karofsky had said he'd eaten a few days ago.

Once he can hear most of the breakfast has been eaten Dave trots into the kitchen and he wants to sit next to Kurt but opts to sit next to dad for now, he'll keep coaxing Kurt into getting used to him and then he can sit beside the boy as much as he wants.

"Morning David," Dad smiles at him.

"Hey dad," Dave grins, he really does love this human, why can't more humans be like him? "Um, I've been thinking about Mercedes visiting us today and would it be a good idea if I was a dog today? Kurt's not been here that long he could get lost showing her around, I could be like mapquest or something."

Nodding his dad says, "That's a great idea David, and it also means that Marcus can do the same and play with Vi today," the girl claps excited at the plan. "You'll have to wear a collar today and really work at being a harmless and friendly dog," dad warns.

Sighing Dave nods, "Yeah, okay, and it's a blending in exercise isn't it, so that's good right?"

"Yes," dad pats his arm. "Kurt?" And Kurt's observing the exchange, "After breakfast do you want to call your friend and give her directions? The gate guards are expecting her, and then we can go to your room, you can see David in his canine form, you know this Mercedes best, if you think David can pull it off we'll go with his plan."

Caught off guard and attempting to wrap his mind around Karofsky being a dog all day, he just knows Santana would have a field day with that, he nods and finishes his breakfast, he can privately admit to himself that he's curious about Karofsky in a different shape, the picture of the dragon was beautiful, but he's sure the dog had looked scary.

Having left his phone upstairs Kurt lets Karofsky lead him back to the main foyer and from there he gets the elevator up alone. When the doors open the jock is leaning casually against the banister and Kurt stops for a second, just what is this boy truly capable of?

Getting his phone Kurt spends about ten minutes talking to Mercedes and giving her the address, he also reminds her that they're swimming today. Walking out of the bedroom he finds Karofsky and Paul sitting and talking about sports.

Spotting him Paul sits up and smiles, "Right, come and sit down Kurt, and David make sure you're smaller than normal, don't forget we humans find big dogs intimidating."

"Yes dad," the jock agrees and gets up vanishing into the bedroom and then Kurt's sitting down on a sofa near Paul.

"He won't be long," Paul says and they sit in silence as Kurt tries to listen for any noises coming from the bathroom.

Rolling his eyes at his dad, Dave goes to the bathroom and strips down, since his mate is so fussy about clothes he folds them up and then drops to the floor letting the canine in him out.

It's similar to the change he goes through to be a dragon except his vertebrae don't have to split so much for his neck to grow, but his legs are a total bitch as his knees twist more. This time his claws are much shorter and his tail grows as his skin itches before soft white and grey fur sprouts out all over him.

Standing up he shakes his body out and if Kurt were standing here right now Dave would easily be able to look him in the eyes. Smaller, he needs to be smaller, concentrating he grunts a few times as he shifts his body mass and does something supposedly impossible, well at least according to science.

The sized dog he normally uses would have shoulders that came up to Kurt's knee, that should be about right and he turns and twists a few times to make sure everything's in proportion. Trotting towards the door he stops as the familiar swing of his balls halts him in mid stride. Damn, most dogs were neutered, concentrating again he sucks them up into his body and then carries on out to the bedroom and then into the sitting room.

Woofing to get their attentions he ignores his mate and goes into full 'dog' mode, wagging his tail he plays at being harmless and sits at his dad's feet acting like he's begging for a petting, which he is, there is something really good about having your ears rubbed.

Stunned Kurt stares at the canine sitting by Paul, it was much smaller than he expected and was giving off relaxed dog vibes. If he didn't know it was Karofsky he'd simply think it was a beautiful breathtaking dog of unusual colouring.

Paul's picture simply didn't do Karofsky justice. The fur was so pale as to be white, but the tiger stripes weren't real stripes, it was where the tips of the fur had touches of a pale ghost grey that stood out in contrast to the white.

The canine was everything a dog should be all rolled into one and it should have come across as a mongrel mix instead he was an epitome of canine that every other species on earth only had a touch of, like they were lesser imperfect copies.

Golden intelligent eyes were watching him and Kurt's struck by how smart this Cursed must be. Even though the tail is wagging and his mannerisms are right the jock isn't fooling him anymore than his little act at waking up earlier had.

"Would you like to feel his fur?" Paul asks and Kurt jumps slightly and then nods because he just has to touch this magnificent creature.

The 'dog', for want of a better word, stands up and approaches him slowly, and its clear the jock is trying not to frighten him. Reaching him it puts it's head on the sofa and those golden eyes glance up at him as the tail keeps wagging.

Tentatively Kurt stretches out his hand and strokes down the dog's neck. The fur is so soft under his hand it's indescribable and he can't help but gasp and then both of his hands are rubbing that muscled body and pricked up ears. He simply can't believe how good that fur feels on his hands, it's better than any fabric he's ever felt and he wants more.

Snapping back to himself he realises he's pretty much molested Karofsky, "Oh, I'm so sorry…" The dog's eyes were closed and they open as the shoulders under his hands shrug and the tail starts to wag again.

"I don't think David minds, our four Cursed love to be petted," Paul adds and Kurt sits back, his hands reluctantly slipping from the jock's fur. "Do you think he can fool Mercedes into thinking he really is just a dog?"

"Yes," he doesn't even hesitate, if he keeps thinking the jock is just a dog, no one else stands a chance at guessing what Karofsky is.

"Good, okay David go get your collar with the name tag and then we'll show Kurt his family's set of rooms, we'll tell your friend you're living there and then you two can roam all over, just tell David if you want to do somewhere in particular, or if you get lost he'll lead you back to the main area," Paul's telling him and Kurt hadn't noticed Karofsky leave, though he notices him return with a chain link collar in his mouth.

Paul puts it on for him and rubs those ears, "There you go son, your disguise as 'Fluffy' is all done."

"Fluffy?" Kurt stares and yes he can see how Karofsky could be fluffy especially when the Cursed rolled over and showed off his belly with his tongue hanging out, but the dog could still slaughter every human within a mile in a terrifyingly short span of time.

His mate had approved of his plan and Dave revelled in the fact that his mate had also gotten carried away with petting and rubbing his fur. All the mates did that, they said there was something irresistible about the Cursed's fur. Perhaps today would not be completely boring if his mate could be persuaded into doing that more often.

And there was the thought that if Kurt liked his fur that much on his hands he'd love the canine fur all over his skin. All the human mates liked it when their partners went canine, though it had taken Penny time to get used to the idea but she loved it when Marcus shifted for her now.

Kurt was also going swimming today. Swimming for humans involved wearing very little clothing, if he was careful Dave's sure he can get close enough to touch his tail to Kurt's arms and legs, nothing too much, but enough that Kurt might think about it later on.

Following the two humans he stands in the lift with them and sighs at how slow it is. Then he goes into the Hummel-Hudson den and the three humans are there, they smell surprised but they haven't seen him yet. Ah the nice agents had made one of the rooms look like Kurt lives there, they were very good at building and making things.

All the humans are then surprised by him being so dog like, he gets petted by all the humans and he hides his sigh, he would prefer it if Kurt was the one doing the petting.

He catches a glimpse of his dad's face and the smell of amusement comes off the man as the humans including Kurt talk over him, ignoring him as if he were a real dog. Going along with it he flops onto the floor and rolls over so that Hudson can stick a foot and rub his belly for him.

Astonished at how quickly a room had appeared for him Kurt looks at it longingly but he knows he'll never be able to sleep in here, unless… Yes he won't be able to do them that often but he can sneak a few sleepovers at the girls' houses and then maybe a few here so he'd have to sleep down here with his family.

Oh and Karofsky wouldn't be able to sleep in the same room as him.

Drat.

He keeps his smile to himself and listens to the rest of the plan which isn't much more than wandering around with Mercedes, going swimming and generally having fun without mentioning that Karofsky was Cursed.

This evening Anton was going to do a big home cooked meal to be served in the large dinning room, and Mercedes along with Puck were invited too. The Cursed would also turn up and eat with the family.

Dave's not happy with that part of the plan he hates having to eat human food, they burnt the damn stuff all the time, what was wrong with raw meat, he hides another sigh and hopes Kurt pets him lots for what he was going through for his mate.

Pleased Kurt nods, he can work with this and really he's not lying to Mercedes too much, if people knew about the Karofsky's they would lynch the hotel and frankly Kurt's starting to like the humans living here. Perhaps dad and Carole could rent their new home out, the money would come in handy to save up for college for both Kurt and Finn, he has a sinking feeling he's not going to get to go to New York or Broadway, but he's determined to get a degree of some kind.

The phone in the room goes and dad picks it up, he hands it over to Paul who nods, "Yes, that's perfect, thank you." Putting the phone down Paul looks over to him, "Your friend is here Kurt."

Excited Kurt nods and he hurries to the door eager to see her, a flicker of movement nearby and he sees the dog right next to him, apparently Karofsky was going to be by his side the whole time.

In the lift the dog sighs again and Kurt murmurs, "Still don't like the elevator then?"

Twisting to look up at him the dog shakes it's head and sighs sadly, "Well we're here anyway."

And then Kurt fidgets on the steps of the hotel waiting for his friend. He sees her car and it's got two people in it, Puck was here too. They park slightly to one side and then his two friends are walking over with bags in their hands, oh yes they'd need swimming costumes to change into.

"Mercedes, Puck, you made it," Kurt knows he's grinning like an idiot but he doesn't care, it's good to see friendly faces.

The human jock stomps up the steps perfectly at home and at ease while Mercedes is gaping and gasping and exclaiming over Kurt's new home. He didn't have anything to do with it but he preens anyway.

"Oh Boo," and she's there pulling him into a giant hug, "Kurt, I've been so worried."

"You've been worried," he teases her, "I was worried."

She swats his arm gently and then she spots 'Fluffy', "Oh, they have dogs. Is she friendly?"

The dog manages to look mortally offended and Kurt smothers his giggle, "He, and his name's Fluffy. He's friendly," he hopes

Holding out her hand Mercedes coos at the dog who goes into friendly and loving mode, and then Kurt is treated to the sight of his friend's arms wrapped around the dog's neck as she fusses him and Karofsky is lapping up the attention, wiggling and whining and putting on quite the show.

Over her head Puck mouths 'Dave?' So Kurt nods and the boy smirks amused at the Diva who's calling Karofsky a 'great big soppy snuggle wuggle'.

Caught in a chokehold Dave hides another sigh and lets the girl maul him, the things he did for his family and his mate.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.

Yeah I'd like to take a moment to say if Bestiality with a fully sentient Cursed capable of consenting (even initiating things) is a bad button to push, you might not like this fic all the way through.


	11. Chapter 11

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 11<strong>

"Oh you are so adorable," Mercedes is patting the jock turned dog and Kurt struggles not to giggle at her. Standing up his friend gives him a searching look, "Boo are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm as fine as I can be," He assures her, "Things are settling down and I think I could be happy here Mercedes…"

"And that horrible boy?" She growls, "Is he hassling you?" She doesn't see the dog's ears flatten at that.

"Actually no, after everything that's happened he's being really nice, he's like a whole other person Mercedes, you'll see at dinner tonight. Anton's cooking for us all," Kurt tries to smooth the conversation over.

"Hmm, I'll try and reserve judgement on him for now then," she sniffs and links arms with Kurt, "So Boo, show me your new home."

And he does, "I've not seen that much, what with moving in and the chaos of getting our stuff," he ushers her into the main foyer, "Ta da, do you like?"

He watches her spin around trying to take in all the details, he's beginning to suspect that Anton had a lot to do with the decorating, the man had taste in clothes, food caddies and he apparently did most of the cooking in the kitchen he'd had made to his requirements.

In the back of Kurt's mind he's been planning out his own new wardrobe, he's fairly sure he'll have to save space for Karofsky's clothes, but he's a bit stumped at how to lay the room out for the maximum storage and practicality, he's also fairly sure he can have a whole area purely for mirrors so he can see what he looks like at every angle. Normally he's not quite that vain, but it would be nice to indulge now and again. He's thinking of asking Anton for some input, not that he'll use it if he doesn't like it, but it would be nice to see what the man thought.

"Hey is Finn in his room?" Puck's asking and when Kurt nods the boy swaggers over to the lift, "We'll go play console or something, don't be too long I wanna go swimming, Mr K was saying the pool is a salt water pool, something about his wife preferring it to chlorine."

"Okay," Kurt agrees and tries to work out if chlorine or salt was worse for his skin and hair then shrugs, the products he has now are far superior so they'll fix any damage.

"Where to now?" He asks his friend.

"Where is there?" She asks back as she loops her arm in his.

"Well I've been to my room and sorted my wardrobe, that took a while," he lies slightly and she nods buying into it, "Then there was the sunroom where the parents mapped out our lives," Not a complete lie, "The kitchen and that's about it, I've heard rumours of a nice roof top." Stopping he frowns, "I think I'm going to have to get a list of rooms and then use that to go exploring."

"Hmm, well boo, I'm more than happy to check out this sunroom, the kitchen because it's important, and your room, then we're hitting the swimming pool," Mercedes decides and with that the dog suddenly reappears and trots off in the direction Kurt can vague remember the sunroom being in.

Jogging in front of them Dave has to remember to slow his pace, humans were slow and got tired if they did too much. His mate is still talking with the girl and every time she tries to find out about the move and what prompted it Kurt was dodging by tell her to talk to Burt, that was stopping her and as they walk into the sunroom she gasps and drops the subject.

After that he leads them back to the foyer and then to the kitchen judging that they'd probably nearly always start their journeys to the kitchen from the foyer.

The kitchen is empty and he settles into a corner to watch his mate and friend peek into the cupboards and then he gets to listen to Kurt get excited about the different pieces of equipment. Human food was so weird, they ate it raw, they baked it, they boiled it, they sliced and diced it, they turned it into smoothies, they just wouldn't eat it the way it was intended to be eaten, raw and bloody.

Kurt can see himself in here with Carole so very easily. And if Anton was that good a cook he bets the three of them can whip up some seriously delicious but heart healthy foods for everyone.

They check out the pantry too and he can see the way Mercedes is eyeing up some of the junk food, he grins to himself, she's so obvious.

Making their way back with 'Fluffy' the dog's help they go up in the lift with Mercedes showing him photos of outfits she'd picked out and bought at the mall, he nods along with her and comments on them, she has an amazing eye so he wasn't worried about her choices, though she has a tendency to back slide into stripes now and again, he hides his shudder over the Technicolor zebra incident.

Walking into his family's set of rooms he's greeted by the sight of Finn and Puck already in their bathing costumes and playing on the only console Finn's got set up at the moment. Thankfully with Mercedes over the boys shouldn't just crash into Karofsky's and his room to 'borrow' the consoles there.

Mercedes follows him into his pretend room and shuts the door. Which is when Kurt realises he has no idea where anything is, he didn't set the room up, freezing in place he panics and then brainstorms for a seconds before calling out, "Carole? Do you remember where I put my bathing trucks? I know I moved them a few times…"

His stepmother knocks and then pops her head around the door, "I don't know, I do know you weren't that happy with it and threatened to rearrange everything…"

It makes Mercedes laugh, "Oh Kurt, that is so like you, no wonder you've not seen this place, you were too busy playing in your room, I'll help you find them," she promises and misses the relieved look Kurt shares with Carole.

It takes them ten minutes to find them and then they get changed after Kurt surreptitious scans the room for the dog, he's not there so he feels confident enough to get undressed. Mercedes has seen him naked several times now, bad timing in changing rooms has lead to them not really being bothered by it, he's treated as if he really were another girl by her.

Sitting by Finn and rolling over for a good belly scratch Dave listens in to Kurt's conversation with the girl, it's not very deep, light simple stuff and it's clear to Dave he made the right call backing his mate up. His mate needs this human stuff too much.

Dad had been alone and abandoned when mom bonded to him. Penny had been running for her life and Marcus had rescued her from her deranged ex. Anton hadn't really fitted anywhere and was aimlessly drifting straight into Kitty's path. None of them were close to any family and friends, but they'd quickly gotten on and built their own human version of family bonds with each other.

Turning that over in his head he wonders how long his dad has been missing grown up human conversation, his dad was hovering around Burt a lot. Penny had homed in on Carole, and Dave has a feeling that Anton and Kurt are going to get on really well.

Hmm, perhaps this mating would be extra good for everyone.

Flexing a paw as Hudson hits a particular good spot on his stomach Dave lays there and wags his tail as the teens cheer their video game prowess. Neither of them are paying him any real attention so he assumes his blending in is going well.

Kurt and Mercedes eventually emerge, both of them are swathed in robes which show nothing, and then they all grab towels before Dave leads them back to the lift and he sits there sighing at how slow it is, he gets a wink from Kurt and then he takes them to the back of the den.

Following the jock Kurt's eager to go swimming, here he won't have to put up with anyone being mean to him, it's his home he can kick them out if they're mean.

He's expecting something small and easy to maintain, but nothing in this place has been small, so when he stops in his tracks and eyes up the giant room filled with more than one swimming pool he can't believe he's still surprised.

"Wow," Puck says and they eye the place up.

There is what can only be an Olympic sized pool for swimming and laps and it has what appears to be a huge diving board, from here Kurt can't see how deep it is at the far end but it'll have to be deep to accommodate divers.

A much smaller round and shallower pool has steam rising from it and then it starts to bubble like a hot tub, that one looks like fun. And lastly there is a strangely shaped pool with weird metal pipes around the edge, the edges are all scalloped and it goes all the way up to the back wall and leads outside to more strange scalloped bits. The back wall near the swimming pool is one big window and you have to swim under to get outside.

"So what do we start with first?" Mercedes asks and the four teens turn and run to the round pool.

It slopes down and in the centre are round benches to sit on and get bubbled freely on. They splash each other and giggle as the bubbles tickle them. When the bubbles die down they all groan and then explore some more. They try out the giant pool but it's so much colder than the last one.

And Finn asks what they're all wondering, "Hey how come the sides on this pool are so deep? Did they run out of water or something?"

He's right, the shallow end comes up to Kurt's waist and then drops steadily away, it's got to be seriously deep at the far end, which does make sense with that giant diving board. But the walls are all too high, he's used to swimming pools that lap the edge like the strange shaped one does.

Getting out via the metal ladders they troop over to that one and get in, it has steps at one end, ladders spaced evenly along the edges and they deliberately swim and splash and laugh. It's deep enough that Mercedes is on tiptoes but Finn's predictably fine.

In the end the allure of going outside is too much and they all take turns swimming under the water to reach the open air.

Uh-oh Kurt's gone outside; anxiously Dave paces down the side of the pool and then throws himself in after his mate. It's easy enough to dive under, even in his canine shape he can swim strongly and soon reaches the four teens who are struggling to keep their shoulders under the warm water and out of the freezing cold air.

It's a bit deep for Mercedes so Dave offers himself up as a living float to her, it takes her a minute or so before she latches on to him and then she's clinging to him no longer fighting to keep her face above water.

Kurt has noticed him and Dave pretends to ignore him, the soft smile on Kurt's face should mean that Dave has just won points for this act. He hopes his mate approves and realises that Dave simply wants him to be happy, and maybe naked, but he'll go for happy first.

It's too cold out for the teens and they all head back in, Dave treads water helping Mercedes out and then he's diving under the water after them, he then proceeds to swim over to the pipes the humans had spotted earlier and tows the girl there as well just in time for the water to gush out, she squeals right into his ear and he winces.

"Oh my god, you guys have to try these out," Mercedes is saying as the dog leaves her and Kurt hurries over to an unoccupied set of metal pipes.

She's right and he luxuriates under the fast flow of water pummelling his shoulder and back muscles. This place is amazing and he gloats in the knowledge that his home has just become the party central place for all the Glee kids, in fact this should be a good place to bribe them into accepting Karofsky who's doggie paddled his way over to the steps and is currently shaking himself free of water.

Kurt can't help but see the radical difference in the jock since the bite, and he wonders at the other humans here and how their mating with their Cursed went, if they got to live somewhere like this it wasn't a huge hardship, they clearly had freedom and were in love or at least very fond of their mates.

Going back to splashing around they head for the smaller pool when it bubbles again thoroughly enjoy themselves in the process.

Anton brings them lunch and they devour it having worked up quite the appetite, and then Finn says, "So how are we getting Dave into Glee?"

"Dave?" Mercedes queries.

"Yeah," the lanky teens says, "Dave Karofsky."

By now the jock has crept closer and Kurt can see the dog is aiming for him when Mercedes intercepts him and starts rubbing his ears, the way the dog's eyes have started to close shows how much he's enjoying it.

"Why do we need to let that monster into Glee? Kurt's explained he's gay, and that he was scared, but that doesn't excuse how he treated my friend and your new brother," Beneath her hand the dog's ears have gone back and Kurt's not sure what to say.

Puck clears his throat, "Baby, you don't understand, Kurt's got this swish deal because of him, and now he's not hiding being gay, he's not that much of dick, he and Kurt seem to be getting on okay."

"You did say you'd give him the benefit of the doubt," Kurt reminds her and watches the jock in question wag his tail at that.

"Hmm, fine, I guess," Mercedes isn't too enthused and Kurt has to get her on board for this, if the four of them can present a united front to the rest of the club they can slide Karofsky in easier and then go to Regionals as a team.

"So, what do we do?" Puck asks.

And that is the big question.

"Well what ever we decide to do we're going to need Dave's input," Finn stands up, "Lets get changed and meet up in the sunroom thingy, Dave can join us, we can plan, then maybe play console and have dinner, Anton said it was beef tonight."

'Fluffy' leads them back to the lift and they go to Kurt's family's set of rooms, there they send Mercedes off to shower first and then get back into a huddle.

"Right," Finn takes charge, "Dave, go and get changed into a human, meet us back here, we'll all pretend you had stuff to do which is why you didn't swim with us, then we go to the sun room, plan, and eat."

Dave rolls his eyes but nods and hopes Finn isn't in charge of getting him into Glee club, otherwise he's sure it'll involve a song of some kind, a console, and food.

Going to the door he scratches to be let out and Puck opens the door for him, he waits for the door to close behind him and then he runs up to his and Kurt's den. Changing, he showers and gets dressed before walking back to his new in laws' rooms.

Kurt gets to shower next and he races through the shower in case Karofsky comes back early and then sits down as calmly as he can do. Mercedes is doing her hair and then she joins him as they all listen to Finn singing in the shower.

A knock on the door announces Karofsky's turned up and Puck lets him in, and then all four of them get to sit in awkward silence until Finn bursts in and Puck can go wash.

It's a little amusing when Mercedes glares at Karofsky but the jock simply ignores her and Kurt makes himself relax, the less stressed he is around the boy the quicker Mercedes is going to accept him.

No one's saying anything so Kurt clears his throat, "You were right," he says to Karofsky, "The pools are amazing." It's another lie, the boy hadn't mentioned them, but he needs to put him in a good light to Mercedes.

"Yeah? I take it you had fun then…" the jock says and Kurt takes it as his cue to chatter about what they did and then Puck's made it out of the shower and they can leave.

Kurt hopes it was a good enough act but Mercedes is still glaring at Karofsky so Kurt makes sure to stand by the boy in the enclosed space of the elevator and he can just make out the sigh the jock always makes.

Leading them through the den Dave takes them to the sunroom and then sits down letting them pick their own seats, he's surprised when Kurt voluntarily sits on the same sofa, not too close but not miles apart either.

From the look on her face and the smells she's giving out Mercedes is surprised too. Not sure if he should be offering food or drinks or the other humany things that can happen with guests Dave startles when Finn crashes between him and Kurt again and then Puck's dragging a chair over.

"Right," Finn rubs his hands, "Let's plot."

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.


	12. Chapter 12

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 12<strong>

Stretching out his legs Kurt leaves it to Puck and Finn to argue with Mercedes who's still not convinced that Karofsky should even be part of Glee. Privately he agrees with her, isn't living with the Cursed boy enough? Why does he need to have him in Glee too?

Karofsky isn't adding anything to the argument he's just sitting there staring at his hands, the same way he's been staring at them since Kurt got here. The boy's behaviour is so very different and Kurt's even survived sleeping in the same bed with him without anything bad happening.

Huffing he joins in the argument after all, "Mercedes," Kurt tries to get in to derail the epic bitch rant she's on, "Karofsky's no longer a threat to me, he's not dangerous to me in the slightest. And when the idiot homophobes at school find out about him all hell is going to break loose, we need to give Karofsky the same chance to be a better person that we've given all the members of Glee club."

That stops her in her tracks and she starts glaring at Puck and Finn who sit back and put their hands up in defensive positions, "Just because some people," she glares at them both again, "Can learn to be more than they used to be doesn't mean they all can," she turns her glare on Karofsky.

A Karofsky who isn't fighting and is just sitting there making himself seem much smaller than he normally does. That can't be easy for him, he's Cursed and the ultimate predator, to act so unaggressive must take a lot of out him.

"Mercedes," Kurt pleads now, "Please." He used to daydream about making it big somewhere else, coming home to visit his dad and then somehow running into all his old bullies, they'd be cowed and stuck here, he'd have escaped and would make more in a month than they would in a year, and he'd lord it over them for exactly five seconds before being the bigger man, sniffing haughtily and walking away. Now that Karofsky is acting cowed he's not enjoying it as much as he thought he would.

It's unsettling.

It's putting him off but perhaps that's the better angle to go with because she stops and really looks not only at him but at Karofsky. "Fine. I don't like it Kurt, I really don't like it but… Okay I'm in."

Dave has never understood some parts of the stories and books dad has read to him over the years, why help an enemy when they're weak? You should kill them and expand your territory. Or kill them and protect your pack. Mercy has usually escaped him.

But here he's being, or at least pretending to be, weak and defenceless and not only has Kurt stepped up to protect him but Mercedes has stopped attacking. She's still hostile, still doesn't like him but is willing to help him.

One more thing to add to the confusing conflicting mess that are humans at their weirdest.

"Right so what's the plan?" She asks and to Dave's horror they all turn to Finn, oh dear sweet god they are all so fucked.

"Well I'd normally say we need to get the popular kids on our side, but this is Glee, so the normal rules don't apply," Finn's musing and even Kurt smells impressed at this.

"We need Tina and Artie," Kurt says firmly, "Once we have those two the rest will crumble," the other kids nod and Dave's still very much in the dark. He's sure you're supposed to go for the leaders and then everyone will follow like sheep.

"Okay, Kurt and I will concentrate on Tina," Mercedes is thoughtful, "Finn, Puck, you two go after Artie. And Finn if Mr Schue tries to interfere turn those puppy eyes of yours on him and give him the normal 'everyone deserves a break speech' he'll back us at that point."

Grinning evilly Kurt laughs at that and Dave still doesn't get it. Humans are weird at the best of times but Glee seems to turn their brains off even more and make them act in the strangest of ways. He supposes he should be nicer to them, he is mated to one of them now.

They talk a little more and when they get to the Berry chick they all go quiet and then he listens to his mate say, "Fine, if Rachel wants to leave the club she can," the others make a fuss but his mate is standing firm, "We'll have the numbers we need with Karofsky, we can perform at Regionals without her, she doesn't have to stand in the limelight and sing the solo."

If anything the others all stare at his mate in a mix of horror and awe and then Mercedes starts laughing while Puck breathes out, "Dude, you are one cold calculating bitch," and a hand is held out to fist bump.

"She might be my girlfriend but Kurt you are like the most awesome person on the planet right now," Finn whoops and somehow it's all sorted.

Smug Kurt basks in their praise and really hopes that Rachel does squawk tomorrow, he'll enjoy bursting her little Diva bubble. He really does like her but he doesn't understand how Finn can play kissy face with her and put up with her brand of crazy, the girl's beyond talented but needs to be brought down to earth now and again.

Karofsky is frowning and looking confused so Kurt takes pity on him, he leans over his new brother to say, "Rachel might be the most outwardly talented of us all but she occasionally needs to taken down a peg or two or her world domination complex takes over too much.

"And we'll aim for Artie and Tina because like Mercedes and I they were part of the core that joined before Finn did. They others will follow our lead," if anything the jock blinks and nods but still seems confused. Oh well he'll learn that in Glee club the normal social rules tended to get thrown out anyway.

"So we're all agreed, we send out an emergency Glee meeting in the morning, tell them it's to do with me and Karofsky. Then Karofsky and I will hide in Mr Schue's office, spring Karofsky joining Glee on them and we'll work on Tina and Artie to get them on our side and that part is done," Kurt can see the four of them nod. "Good, now what about the rest of the school, because the jocks are not going to take Karofsky defecting to Glee sitting down, add in the fact he's suddenly gay and they're going to go for blood."

It's a bit melodramatic but the adults in the school don't bother to discipline or control any of the kids, and none of the parents really understand the battlefield of hell that's high school, so he feels justified in his description of blood being wanted.

"Crap," Finn mutters.

"Actually," Puck has that look on his face that makes Kurt's stomach clench in a bad way, something really stupid is about to be said. "The best thing is for a few of them to go after Karofsky…"

Waving down their protests Puck's grinning and Kurt wants to smack him up the back of the head, "Think about it. Karofsky's got a reputation as a fighter, same as me, with me and Sam backing him up, and as long as not too many of them go for him in one go, we can put the fear of god into them, they won't dare cross him. And anyway most of them won't believe he's gay, he's nothing like Kurt, sorry man but you are kinda girly," Kurt sighs at that and nods, "While Dave's kinda manly, we should let that confuse them and if we word it right they'll be too busy trying to prove to each other how not gay they are, because if someone like Dave is gay…"

Kurt thinks he knows what Puck is getting at but Karofsky beats him to it, "You mean call them all closet gays for picking on me like I did Kurt? Use the bullying against them? Make it that if they bully either of us or the Gleeks then it means they're gay?" The jock's voice is surprised and thoughtful. "They're kinda stupid, you'll have to really hit them over the head with it."

"Cheerleaders," Mercedes leans forward, "We get Santana to tell the other cheerleaders, if she tells them the reason you picked on Kurt was because you were scared of being found out as gay, all she has to do is add a few bits questioning how many more of them are gay and eye up a few of the more aggressive jocks and the rumour mill will do the rest."

Santana would be perfect at this, now all they have to do is talk Artie into it, which means Britt will follow, and where Britt goes Santana goes.

"Awesome," Finn's smiling like he's thought of it all, "Now who wants a snack?"

Rolling his eyes Kurt turns him down as does Karofsky. Mercedes fishes for cheesy snacks and Puck's up for anything. Leaving the three of them to go off and raid the kitchen Kurt rolls his shoulders and turns to Karofsky who's back to staring at his hands.

"Well that went better than I thought it would," he admits to the Cursed boy.

Brown eyes turn golden and look at him, "Yeah, but will it work?"

"I have no idea," Kurt really hopes it all works, but then this was Glee club, it tended to go crazy at the drop of a hat at the best of times. "Oh, and thank you for helping Mercedes in the pool."

Karofsky shrugs, "'S'Cool, you all seemed to enjoy the swimming."

"That's because we did," he smiles and relaxes, which is when it hits him that he really isn't afraid to be in the same room as this boy. "Um, we could watch the rest of the Harry Potter movies when they get back? That should keep them quiet and then it's dinner anyway. It'll give Mercedes a chance to see you all calm and relaxed."

Thinking it over Dave nods, "'Kay, but I hope she don't get me in a choke hold again," and his mate blinks big blue green eyes at him, "Dude, the way she was hanging on to me when she got here," he shudders and then grins because Kurt is giggling, actually giggling, and it morphs into breathy laughter.

Pleased that he's made his mate laugh Dave can feel himself smile, "It wasn't that funny, though calling me a soppy woppy whatever..." He doesn't finish and Kurt's now laughing so hard he's crying, there's an edge of hysteria to it Dave tentatively pats his shoulder, "Breathe Kurt, you need to breathe."

"Oh god," the boy is gasping a bit, "It was funny though, and you still sighed in the lift. Poor David..." And Kurt is back laughing again as Dave can hear the three Gleeks running with Mercedes growling out about not leaving Kurt alone with that Karofsky monster.

Bursting into the room they get to see Kurt rolled up and giggling his head off, it's a sight Dave's never seen and he lifts his hands shrugging at them as they stop and stare in shock.

"Boo," Mercedes is gaping like a fish and looking between them, while Finn and Puck exchange a look and come over.

"Um," Dave's not sure how to smooth this over, "Kurt said we could probably watch the rest of the Harry Potter movies..."

"Awesome," Finn probably says, his mouth is full of food and Dave can't make out the rest of his garbled, "Mnughrgh."

"Right I'll go and grab the films," he volunteers and stands up leaving his mate with the crazy kids, Kurt should be okay he's dealt with them for over a year. Sighing he goes to the lift, it'll be suspicious if he's too quick.

Fighting through the fit of giggles Kurt let's Mercedes hug him, this is a side to him very few people have ever seen, she's one of them and the way her shoulders relax is a very good sign. Everything has built up since Karofsky had upped the bullying, so much fear and sleepless nights, and here he is living with the guy who turns out to be a Cursed.

It had to come out of him one way or another and he's glad that it came out as laughter. Maybe that was an omen and things in his new home would end up better than he realised. Wrapping his own arms around Mercedes he melts into her side and hopes everything is going to be okay. He knows it won't, life simply isn't that easy but it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom.

Turning it over in his head he smirks to himself, so far he now has the most desirable party house, he has three pools, a giant kitchen and lots of spare rooms. Puck has already spent lots of time around here and this could only make his Glee cred higher. Plus he sort of now has a dog and wonders if he can talk Karofsky into being Fluffy at night so he can lay over Kurt's feet and keep them warm.

Or they could go for 'walks', Kurt actually does like to get out in the fresh air, with sunscreen if the sun is going to be on display, but it's not been safe for him to go to many places on his own. With a Cursed guarding him a lot more of the world has opened up to him and he's seen other dog walkers talk to each other. And he won't have to clean up after Fluffy or panic about losing him or dog slobber and shedding…

Another idea pings into his brain and Kurt's not sure whether to run it past Paul first or not. If David can control his size to make himself smaller, then can he change into the feline and make himself the size of a domestic cat? Because Kurt has always wanted a cat. He could curl up with him and listen to the purr and run his fingers through that black coat…

And he stops his thought pattern as he realises he's thinking of cuddling up to Karofsky and molesting him again. Flushing he pushes the ideas away and vows to not bring them up in any topic of conversation, there is no way a Cursed, a supernatural killing machine, was going to agree to snuggle like that.

If it makes him unhappy for a second he ignores it and gets Mercedes to show him her new clothes on her phone again.

Trudging back towards the lift Dave wishes he could just jump over the railings and drop to the ground floor. It was so inconvenient to do things the human way. How the hell had that species ever gotten anywhere or done anything? They were badly designed and Dave knows this because his other shapes are way better, especially the dragon. They ate weirdly. They were slow. They slept for about eight hours a day. And they had weird social things.

He really hopes his mate fusses him slightly for all of this today. Though the way Kurt had laughed was good, if he can get Kurt to stay that relaxed around him it boded well on the mating being successful. Dad had come around to being with mom the fastest, followed by Anton and lastly Penny, but then Penny had been the most afraid.

Crap.

That probably means Kurt will take as long as Penny did, if not longer. Damn it he was hoping it would all work out faster. He was looking forward to curling up on, or next to, Kurt as a feline or a canine and getting his fur rubbed while they watched TV or Kurt read to them.

He's going to have to suffer through the Gleeks screeching at each other in Glee and doing that strange synchronised moves things they did to whatever song had been picked. Urgh, humans, don't they realise how many notes they don't quite hit when they sang? His hearing is so much better than theirs and it's so obvious to him, he hates human music, give him bird song or whale song any day, it was much more natural and followed better rhythms.

Though Kurt's voice was better than the others, it held more emotion than the Berry chick's did, she really did screech and it made his ears hurt to listen to it. Even Finn is better than her, the boy's voice is smoother and less rough. Actually he'd rather listen to any of the others apart from Berry's.

Hmm, Kurt had said she could leave, and he brightens at that thought, no more Berry, he can take Glee club if there's no more Berry in it. Smiling he ambles in and sets up a TV for them to watch on and when they sit down Kurt sits next to him.

Careful not to make any sudden moves he watches the film and breathes in the scent of his mate, the boy isn't that happy, but he's not unhappy either, it's a start, a very good start and Dave watches TV content and calm.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.

Sorry I'd like to point out I'm not hating on Rachel in this chapter but Dave's ears are a bit sensitive to certain frequencies, which she hits, so he's biased against her.


	13. Chapter 13

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 13<strong>

Bored Dave stretches out in the bed and listens to Kurt breathing beside him. Yesterday with Mercedes had been fascinating to his dad, and dad had said the girl was warming to Dave. Personally Dave hadn't seen it but he trusts the human to notice those things.

Vi had been loud at the table and only Dave, Kitty and Marcus had been in their human forms, mom had gone canine and sat beside dad having her ears tickled.

As usual Anton had done wonders and Dave had eaten everything and been annoyed that his sense of taste simply wouldn't allow him to enjoy the food, it was too bland, it had no blood and it still tasted burnt even though the humans all said it was perfect. Kurt had really made a fuss over the salad and there was too much dressing and greenery for Dave.

By the end of the evening Mercedes had smelt much more relaxed and was happier about the plan for this morning.

Dave isn't happy about the plan.

He can't understand how Tina and Artie can hold so much sway over the group, and when Finn had said that with Kurt and Mercedes already on board they were unstoppable he'd mentally thrown his hands up in the air and given up. He'd have to wait and see how it went today.

All of the other three Cursed stayed close to home last night and he can hear them running around the den playing chase while he's stuck in here with Kurt. Though he does get to breathe in his mate's scent and the steady heartbeat is soothing to him.

The first night Kurt had been afraid to sleep in the same bed as him, last night Kurt had dithered in the bathroom and fussed over his weird lotions and then sauntered to bed lost in thought. It was a big improvement and the boy hadn't shuddered away when Dave had stood near him earlier in the day either.

A change in his heartbeat is the only warning he gets and then Kurt's wide-awake beside him.

Glancing over Kurt can see the lump in the bed that is Karofsky and again the boy is faking sleep. Puzzled by it Kurt sits up and stretches out his back, he's been thinking of what clothes to wear today, at first he wanted to wear his nicest battle armour, but the jocks will no doubt retaliate and ruin the fabrics, so he'll have to stick to his easy to clean clothes with a few outfit changes wrapped in cellophane for the slushy attacks.

On cue the cursed boy shifts and does a very credible yawn, "You want the shower?"

"Yes please," Kurt slips out of bed and walks with far more confidence than he ever thought he'd have around Karofsky to his giant wardrobe and picks out his first outfit.

Going to the bathroom he hurries over to the shower and it's still as good as it was yesterday. He made sure to take time with his skin last night because of the saltwater in the swimming pools and it's paid off as he steps out clean and ready to face the day.

Some lotion and a touch of makeup to hit the barest hint of a spot and he's dressed with hair immaculate and ready to take on the day, or the rest of the Glee club, this was going to be a battle and a half.

He finds Karofsky's made the bed again and is sitting on the window seat of what Kurt is beginning to call the study, gazing out over towards the trees, "You know where the kitchen is?" Karofsky asks and Kurt nods. "Cool, I'll meet you there soon."

"Do you want me to get you anything for breakfast?" Kurt offers and Karofsky blinks before screwing his face up and shaking his head, "Don't you get hungry?" He blurts curious.

"Um," Dave fidgets, this is one of the areas his dad and the other mates said he had to be careful of, "I do eat and get hungry but I don't like the kind of human food you do, my body is geared towards other things," he's proud of himself for skipping around it, once Kurt's had time to get used to him he can tell him about what Dave really eats.

Except his mate is standing there and the smell of amusement is coming from him, "So you're not going to tell me then?"

"Um, dad said you might get upset," Dave admits and watches Kurt think that over, wow he's mate is not only smart but reacts very differently to other humans, perhaps that is something that drew Dave's instincts to him.

"Hmm, okay, I'll let it go for now, but the short answer is that you don't like the food I do then?" And with that Dave nods and Kurt accepts it, "Fine, I'll see you downstairs."

His mate sweeps out of the bedroom with the walk that glues Dave's eyes to his ass and he can hear him press the button for the lift. Going for a shower Dave washes and sniffs the lingering scent of Kurt in here, he likes being able to smell him in their lair, the scent isn't that strong yet but with the twist the mating fever gave it, he's looking forward to it penetrating their surroundings, soon it will really add to the comforting aroma of home.

In the kitchen Kurt can see all of the humans are up and eating, he sidles in next to his dad and beams at the fruit and other healthy things that are on the plate. Anton is not letting him get away with anything.

Mixing yoghurt in with his cereal he eyes Paul up and schemes of how to ask about Karofsky's diet. Perhaps if he played the angle of being curious about all Cursed? That could work.

He'll leave it until after school and mention that he saw them eat at dinner but not at breakfast and that Karofsky had pulled a face at the thought of breakfast. Pleased he skips off to go back to his room to grab his school things and brush his teeth.

Nearing the lifts he jumps out of his skin when someone lands at the base of the stairs, Kitty straightens up and winks at him where he's leaning against the wall in shock, then she speeds off towards the kitchen and he's reminded forcefully that some of those living here really aren't human.

Staring at the last spot he saw her he jumps again when Diane and Marcus fall gracefully down from above and land effortlessly on their feet. They don't even acknowledge him they simply run off and they're so fast that if he'd blinked he would have missed them.

Stunned he rides the elevator up and wanders into his shared room. On autopilot he brushes his teeth and checks his hair and then with his school things and changes of outfit in hand he goes down via the elevator and finds Karofsky and Finn waiting for him.

"Ready?" Finn asks and Kurt nods.

His baby is housed in the nearby garage and he backs her out, apparently he's driving today. Karofsky seems happy to sit in the back and Finn talks video games at him. Covertly Kurt flicks his gaze to the boy in the mirror and tries to spot the signs that Karofsky is Cursed, but nothing shows, the brown eyes stay brown and he talks video games back to Finn.

Kurt's being extra weird and Dave ignores it. He keeps up his blending and hides his Cursed status. He hates this part of being around humans, why can't he just be himself, at least that way he'd get into less trouble, and they'd stop irritating him to the point he wants to snap their necks.

But now he's with the Gleeks they might be easier to be around all day, the jocks were idiots and had the dumbest ideas, and then he remembers that Brittany the blonde dimbo was in the group so he's back to hiding a sigh.

Kurt parks the car and Dave clambers out being as bulky and lumbering as he can, a human built like him isn't always that graceful, plus he's put a lot of work into acting stupid around people. Almost everyone sees him and concludes he's not that bright, small slip ups can be masked as lucky chances and even his teachers who grade his work don't expect much from him.

Putting Finn between him and Kurt he clunks along and follows them to the choir room, he's going to have to remember he's allowed in here now, that it's his territory too. And that makes him think about how he's going to have to change all his routines, which means he's going to have to do his best not to screw up and break cover. Kurt, Finn and Puck know what he is, perhaps they can help him blend in. And from school rumour the Gleeks were crazy so they might just believe he's crazy too and write it off as normal.

Startled by how Karofsky's moving now Kurt has to face the reality that his 'mate', for lack of a better word, really did hide what he was in public. The same gracelessness, the way he could be an upright gorilla and it pricks Kurt's curiosity about him, just what else is he hiding?

Mr Schue is in his office and grading Spanish tests with a Spanish dictionary in his hand, he's not the greatest language teacher and Kurt's glad the internet has so many teach yourself sites, his French, Latin and Spanish are several levels above the other students.

"Finn," the man smiles, of course he would notice his male star and then he blinks, "Kurt, it's good to see you both, the wedding went well, congratulations again."

And Kurt can pinpoint the moment he notices Karofsky looming up behind them because he shoots to his feet, "Kurt," he motions him to one side and for once the teacher is standing up for Kurt, "David, this is for Glee Club members only, if you want to audition I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask the students first…"

"It's okay Mr Schue," Finn steps up and the man is clearly confused at the turn of events.

"Actually Mr Schue," Kurt tips his chin, "Karofsky and I have settled our differences and I've offered him the shelter of Glee club."

"You… You offered him…" Mr Schue is at a loss and Kurt waits a few more seconds before playing up to this opportunity.

Twisting slightly he reaches out to Karofsky's shoulder, the jock merely glances at his hand and doesn't shake him off or say anything, "Yes, it turns out that Karofsky is gay," the teacher gapes at them not expecting that, "He's been trying to hide it but…" oh the drama, and Kurt's going to love being the centre of this particular piece of gossip, at least in Glee club, "But it's hard to deny who you are, and I won't bore you with the details that have led up to my family moving in with the Karofsky's. It's just that I know how hard it is to be an openly gay teen in this homophobic school. I really want Karofsky," he pauses and pats that big shoulder, "David, to join Glee club, I don't care if he can't sing or dance, he needs the safety and shelter that you've already extended to me, a place I can really be myself," Kurt plays on Mr Schue's self-absorbed vanity.

"Well um," Mr Schue is so naive sometimes that it's almost cruel to do this to him. Out of the corner of his eye Kurt can see Finn has started the puppy dog eyes so he widens his own and gazes as soulfully as he can. Unable to resist them the teacher nods, "Okay, as long as you're sure Kurt, I don't want you to feel unsafe in Glee club."

And finally someone who understands what being free in this club means to him, "It's okay Mr Schue, I truly honestly feel safe with Karofsky now."

Leaving Finn to outline the rest of the plan Kurt takes a moment to gloat that the plan is working at all, and then it hits him that he really does feel safe now, he was terrified of the old Karofsky but this one isn't scary at all.

Well it seemed to be on track at the moment and Dave stays quiet, he's not sure why the teacher gave in to Kurt's pleading and frankly he doesn't care, it's taking more control than he realised not to openly sniff his mate, the pleased and happy scents are quite intoxicating, and this explains why Marcus falls over himself to give Penny foot rubs, a happy contented mate was a type of nirvana for a Cursed's nose.

One handshake later and a 'welcome aboard David' and he was an official member of the Glee club. And his social standing in the school has just crashed and burned, he tries to cling to the reasoning the mates have given him that this school doesn't count and that he really is at the top of the food chain, this is simply an exercise in learning about what it is to be a weaker animal.

His dragon is not agreeing and he rubs at his eyes so they don't glimmer with gold and give him away, it's not just him or his family he has to protect anymore, it's Kurt too.

"Are you okay?" Kurt's perched on Mr Schue's desk and checking his nails, but he looks concerned.

"I'm fine, I'm just not used to being at the bottom of the social pile, I'll get used to it and high school isn't real life, in real life…" He breaks off at the hint of a smile playing over Kurt's lips.

"Yes David, in real life you are a rough, tough Cursed and none can with stand you," Kurt's not exactly mocking him but there is a playful something there.

"Yeah, something like that," He shrugs not sure how to handle his mate in school, the overwhelming urge to slam him about was gone and in it's place he wants to protect and hover about him, to fetch him anything he wants.

Jerking his head up Dave listens to the Gleeks enter the choir room, "They're here," he mutters and Kurt straightens up, "Hmm, Puck and Mercedes are talking to Finn and are saying they're happy Mr Schue is on their side."

"You can hear that?" Kurt can't help but be curious, he'd seen the barest touch of gold in the Cursed's eyes just now and he's beginning to realise that social stature meant more to David than popularity, he flashes back to some of the nature documentaries he's watched and the strongest predator was the one with the best hunting and water rights. Perhaps his inner beast was upset that it might not get first choice at food and other resources.

And then Mr Schue is there, "Guys, you're up."

He'll think about how David being Cursed affects how he thinks about things later because right now they have a battle to win.

Gathering his poise and grace he struts out calmly and makes his appearance, David lumbers behind him and then with an inner smile he lets his friends go a little crazy at the sight of the boy they think they know so well and despise so close to Kurt.

It's actually gratifying how so many of them are leaping to his defence, Sam is already advancing with his fists up and Santana isn't far behind him. A few of them are covering the physically weaker members of the club but are ready to pounce if they have to. He's gone from being the kid no one cares about to having friends who are willing to step up, and he can't keep the giant smile off of his face, to the point that Sam and Santana falter in their tracks.

In the distance Finn and Puck are talking to Artie, while Mercedes is with Tina, he's going to have to trust them to handle the teens because Rachel Berry is in the middle of winding herself up and it's going to fun to knock her down several pegs in time to let her loose at Secionals, they'll need her to destroy the Warblers who's lead singer, Blaine, oh god Blaine of the perfect hair and eyes and... Snapping out of it Kurt girds himself for battle and waits for the explosion.

He's not disappointed.

Holy shit, Dave fights the urge to cover his ears before they start bleeding, the Berry chick is wailing on about something but her voice is hitting notes that shouldn't be allowed and he wants to roar at her to shut the fuck up already.

And then Kurt's almost dancing forward his hips swaying with the most predatory look in his eyes, and now Dave's getting an erection in the middle of the whole thing, damn his mate is sexy when he's riled.

Around them the room goes quiet and he gets the treat of watching Kurt causally, and with style, wreck Rachel's arguments and when Tina, Artie and Mercedes all back Kurt up along with Finn and Puck the girl falters but gamely continues a rear guard action until she gives in and Dave's officially a looser in the Gleek club.

Awesome.

Not.

For some reason Kurt concedes leadership to Finn and they are so screwed but Finn stands there and that thing happens again, the one where you listen to the boy even though you know he's an idiot and you know it's all going to get fucked up and someone's going to leave crying but the club reluctantly nod and agree to watch out for Dave because he's one of them now and he's gay and the reasons go on.

The bell rings and Dave sighs softly, saved, he can escape the madness and go to class instead.

Kurt taps his arm, "See you at lunch? We generally have our own table."

"Sure," he says and his mate smiles at him and this is why he's putting up with all the crazy, for Kurt, for his mate, to make him happy and content.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.


	14. Chapter 14

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 14<strong>

Bracketed between Sam and Finn, Kurt gets to walk fairly confidently into the cafeteria, the jocks are all eyeballing him but keeping their distance because of his two guard dogs.

This morning has crawled past and it's obvious the jocks are up to something as the rumour mill has exploded on the gossip of Karofsky being gay. It's simply a matter of time before the mass slushy attacks start, and the Glee club is already bracing itself for the worst.

Carrying his tray Kurt sits at the Glee table and even here Sam and Finn have to protect him, this is so annoying, why can't people leave him alone, it's not like he's pestering them, and even when he did pester Finn he was careful how he did it.

Sighing he starts eating and waits for the shit to hit the fan.

Strolling next to Puck, Dave has to admit it's funny to watch the kids around him, they're whispering and making up stories and it's getting wilder and wilder each time. Most of the jocks are afraid of Puck, for good reason the kid's good in a fight and Dave knows he's been getting his own reputation since he and Az had been hunting down the weaklings in the herd.

But now he's the weakling and his Dragon is growling and unhappy, the only thing holding him back is the dumb plan, which if it works, will protect Kurt too.

Safe in the knowledge that nothing these kids can do can hurt him physically he wanders in to get the horrible human food and eat the stuff, it does fill him up and means he has to hunt for fresh meat less but it doesn't taste right and he sighs as he makes his way to grab a tray.

He easily picks up the unstealthy sounds of various jocks converging on him and he doesn't need Puck to say, "Heads up man," in warning.

"It's starting," Finn whispers and Kurt looks up to see about fifteen jocks head as one towards Karofsky, even knowing the boy is practically indestructible doesn't stop Kurt from jumping in his seat and fidgeting uselessly unable to protect the boy who used to bully him.

Finn's hand lands on his shoulder and he has to sit there and watch as Karofsky and Puck stare down the other jocks. It's silent and the whole of the room goes quiet to enjoy the so-called entertainment of the gay kid getting beaten up.

Like a bunch of cowardly jackals they stand their ground sure of their superiority in numbers, and Dave has to make himself not roar at them knowing that would scatter them. One of them gets a little braver and whispers a word that's supposed to be derogatory at Dave and he's never understood this part, why use words that are so obviously stupid?

Humans are so weird, he understands the need to try and intimidate your opponent, because if you can walk away without having to fight you don't have to wait to heal or hunt more food to replace the resources you just used up, but this thing going on here is not about hunting, about the thrill of the chase and the ecstasy of catching your prey, though in school he merely has to tag them and he can hunt them again the next day. No this thing going on is a human thing about humiliating and frightening your prey, and the prey must always be weaker, because cowards like these teens can't pick on someone their own size without lots of help.

Rolling his eyes he peeks at his watch and hopes he's goading them to hurry it along, he doesn't have all day. It works and few more of them join in laughing and encouraging more to have their go too.

It builds and builds and Puckerman even yawns at one point crossing his arms and staring at the ceiling like these kids are nothing in front of him and he's the one indulging them.

After one particularly over the top verbal volley from a boy Dave knows is straight he takes a step towards him and says, "Dude, seriously calm the fuck down, it's okay to be gay, you don't have to prove your manliness to anyone this way."

"What the fuck?" Is Taylor's eloquent response and it does get a few sniggers from the others.

"Just, I get where you're coming from," Dave lies, "I've been there, there's no need to deny you're gay dude…"

"I'm not some kind of faggot like you," the teen spits.

"Uh-huh," Is all Puck says then he adds, "'Coz you're acting just like Dave did when he was hiding being gay."

And all the guys go silent and stare at Taylor who backs up a step, "I'm not fucking gay, I'm not," he starts denying it and getting madder, which is fairly funny.

"Whatever," Dave shrugs, "But you're really not my type so…" He picks up his tray and he and Puck go back to getting dinner. It might take a few more confrontations but the plan appears to be working, accuse them of being gay if they pick on him or Kurt and they'll be confused for a few weeks until they think of something new.

Paying for lunch he goes to the Glee table and sits next to Finn, his little mate is unhappy and Kurt asks, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he munches on the burger he got, at least it's got meat in the middle of the bread, "Those idiots seem to have gotten the idea so they'll stop picking on people for a few hours at least."

Kurt sits and nibbles at the rest of his food unhappily, the words the jocks had used burning into his brain, the way Karofsky had shrugged it off like it was nothing is something else Kurt is going to have to get used to, the cursed boy was hung up on social status but unbothered by words, while Kurt has never really cared about status and has been viciously wounded by words most of his life.

He only just notices Karofsky sniffing and then there's a flash of golden eyes sent towards him, "Are you okay?"

"I will be," he says as honestly as he can and shoves his tray away no longer hungry. He'll eat tonight when he's safe in his new home surrounded by Cursed, and he snorts as he realises he's safer with them than he is here in a school filled with human beings.

Depressed at the world he gets up with the rest of the Glee kids and goes to hide in the choir room, he knows Rachel will be hogging the floor but he can sit and gossip with Mercedes and Tina.

His mate is very unhappy and Dave slouches out with Puck, he doesn't want to leave him but he's going to tell coach he's leaving the football team now and he looks over to see that trim back vanish off into the crowded hallways.

"He'll be fine," Puck tells him, "I used to think he was some weird little diva kid with way too much hairspray and fancy clothes, but Kurt's kinda cool, and he's way stronger than he looks."

"I should be protecting him," Dave grumbles, "Or carrying his things for him, his bag always has a lot of bits in, it could be heavy…" He stops as Puck's laughing at him, "What?"

"You are such a goner on him man," Puck's grinning openly at him, "I mean I've read the pamphlets and stuff on you but the switch around from pre bite to now," he gets a soft punch on his shoulder, it's a human way of showing solidarity and Dave sighs resisting the urge to punch back. "Just treat him right and suffer through the makeovers and you'll be fine."

Apparently Puck is now dispensing advice and Dave nods, "Thanks," to show the human he's grateful for the pointless advice he's not going to follow. He'll treat Kurt far more than right, he'll adore him forever and take care of him, he'll revel in the petting and he'll learn to please Kurt so that the boy will come to love him and never ever want to leave him. They'll have lots of cubs and Dave can't wait to feel them growing inside of him, to see Kurt's face when he hands him his first child, he hopes they all have Kurt's eyes, they're such a fascinating colour he could stare into them all day.

Stepping into the choir room Kurt relaxes and sits with Mercedes and Tina, a Tina who asks, "Are you sure Kurt? He seems different, calmer, less scary and Mercedes says you're living with him?"

"I'm fine with Karofsky now," Kurt reassures her, "I'm confident he won't ever lift a finger against me, and yes I'm living with him, along with my whole family," and that makes him smile, because he has a family now, a family that's more than just him and his dad, there's Carole and Finn too. "And I've met his family and it's all good, better than I could have thought possible before the wedding."

"They have a pool," Mercedes says, "It goes outside and one of them is like a spa bath with air bubbles in it. Plus they have a dog too, his name is Fluffy and he's the soppiest sweetest dog ever," Kurt struggles not to laugh at her, "And Dave was sitting next to Kurt on the sofa when we were planning this morning's coup and it was like a different Karofsky."

"I suppose he doesn't have to hide anymore…" Tina reasons out, "Well if he does anything I am more than happy to do something mean to him, until then I'll wait and see, half the kids in this club used to bully me and we get on fine now, maybe Karofsky will be the same."

They change the subject and in the background Rachel starts singing something that's supposed to be inspirational.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.

Sorry for the lack of updates, life has been ick, should be getting back to normal now.


	15. Chapter 15

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 15<strong>

Strolling out of school Kurt sticks between Finn and Karofsky. He doesn't like having to hide like this and he'd prefer to be with his girls but the jocks are eyeing him up in a way that suggests being locked in a portapotty for the night and he's never doing that again.

Finn is just Finn and ambles along good naturedly chattering about Glee and football and video games and girls. It hasn't occurred to him that only Kurt likes Glee, Karofsky didn't seem that interested during the after school practice, and that the ex-jock is no longer on the football team so talking about it might not be a good idea, and while the Cursed boy plays video games Kurt's not sure if he enjoys them or not, and neither of them is interested in girls, especially Rachel, well not that way anyway.

Karofsky's exactly the same as he normally is at school, the lumbering idiot you expect to start dragging his knuckles on the floor any at minute. The same idiot who is apparently an A/B student. The same student that Kurt's seen as a very huggable dog, a dog that didn't shed that soft white and grey hair anywhere.

Getting into his baby he drives them all home and keeps glancing at Karofsky.

Parking up, he locks up his baby and when they walk to the giant hotel that is their home now he can see the change come over the Cursed boy. Suddenly he's moving silently, gracefully and the dumb look has fallen off of his face and Kurt has to admit the boy is good at hiding what he is.

Kurt's staring at him again and Dave enjoys the attention but tries to pretend he hasn't seen it. He's noticed Kurt studying him and attempting to be subtle about it but Dave's a predator and he's perfected watching others and Kurt is nowhere in his league just yet, maybe with practice.

Gliding up the steps he stands awkwardly in the foyer and says, "I'll drop my stuff in my room, I feel like a run tonight. Guess I'll see you after dinner?"

"Um," Kurt blinks at him, "Sure," his mate seems confused but doesn't say anything as Dave goes to the base of the stairs and then jumps up to the first floor easily finding hand holds and then he throws himself up again. He can admit to himself that he's showing off a little. Below him he hears Kurt's heart pick up and the boy mutters, "No wonder he thinks the lift is slow."

Running into their den he puts his bag away and strips down before Kurt can ride the slow box up. Falling to his knees he embraces his canine and invites the change. Shaking himself he remembers to shrink himself down and to lift his balls up, then he trots out of their rooms and passes Kurt in the corridor, he huffs at his mate and wags his tail. He gets a nod and he waits for Kurt to vanish into their rooms before he jumps over the balcony to fall the foyer floor fall below.

He's hungry and he'll hunt today, a nice deer will tide him over for almost a week and he runs through the downstairs corridors to reach the back of the den and out the specially constructed door he can operate with his paws. Loping over the back gardens he relishes the grass beneath his paws and the dig of his dull claws in the mud.

Bursting into the forest he follows the normal game trails sniffing for a fresh scent. When he catches one he chases after it on silent feet, the trees blurring past him as he races forward.

Nearing his prey he stops and changes shape, the feline one is more useful to him, though Kitty prefers to hunt as a canine which amuses dad for some reason. Swishing his tail he stretches out his body and lithely slips into the foliage to sneak up on the deer, his black fur giving him excellent camouflage.

Not one twig or branch snaps under him, not one leaf rustles and then the heartbeats of the small herd of deer are right there and he slows down. The wind is already in the right direction and he shuffles the last few feet to peer out at them.

They're browsing and haven't noticed him yet, he evaluates them and finds the weakest one, a doe off to one side is limping, she's injured, a tear down one of her back legs. In captivity she'd have that sewn up for her, out here it might have had a chance to heal up but he's hungry.

Judging the distances he backs up and leaps upwards taking to the trees, weaving his way from one tree to another he positions himself above her and springs with his claws extended.

Dad made him watch numerous documentaries when he was a cub, and he's found the way jaguars kill very useful, get up high, drop onto your prey and then bite down on the back of the neck crushing parts of the skull. The death is much neater, faster, and the prey rarely escapes.

His family prefer the old method of grabbing the prey by the neck and then suffocating the prey to death. Dave's too impatient, he's spent all that time tracking and sneaking up he wants to eat now.

The rest of the deer bolted and Dave settles down to eat his dinner purring the whole time. The blood and meat in his mouth tastes delicious and he hopes Kurt enjoys his own weird human dinner that Anton will be cooking.

Taking the lift down a level Kurt goes to see his family, Carole's already back from work and his dad is making sure to be home early to hover over Kurt, or that's what he's threatened to do.

"Hey Bud how did it go today?" His dad asks and Kurt sits in a chair to tell them all of his victory over Rachel and then how Karofsky and Puck had faced down the combined jocks, "So they're falling for it?"

"Yes dad, you can see them thinking it over, but we have breathing space," Kurt nods.

"And you and Dave?" Burt shuffles his feet, "You two are good? He's not pushing you or anything?"

"Actually we're fine," He frowns, "He's so different from what I expected dad, I'm so used to the gorilla in school who's a bully and an idiot, this version is going to take some getting used to."

"Good," and he can see Carole's shoulders relax, "We thought you two were getting on okay as you've got more colour in your face dear and you've not been hiding behind make up so much."

"I'm feeling better Carole," he reassures her.

"Thank god," and now his dad's shoulders slump, "Gotta say Bud I was still willing to snatch you and run, but Dave was really gentle with you while you had that fever thing, I'm glad he's not reverted to how he was before the bite happened."

Their phone rings breaking into their conversation and Carole answers, "Oh Anton, certainly we'll be right down," she turns back to them, "Dinner is served."

"Awesome," Finn crows and bolts from the room leaving his console mid game, on screen the little man dies and the Game Over cut scene kicks in.

"I hope that wasn't too important," Kurt says and goes over to switch everything off, too bad if it was important, and Finn can also do it again, that was the beauty of video games they had a reload facility.

Following Finn at a more leisurely pace they get to the kitchen to see Anton dishing up, "Anton," Carole seats herself, "You really must let me help you with the cooking, I know Kurt would love to have a go in this kitchen too."

"Oh you don't have to," Anton waves it off, "I enjoy it."

"So does Kurt," Burt says, "Kid has a passion for cooking, even if he has swapped to only cooking that healthy stuff recently."

"Dad," Kurt scolds him, "You know what your doctor said, and I'm not going through you being in the hospital again," he really doesn't ever want to have to go through that, the helplessness, the waiting, the way the doctors could only do so much.

"Yeah, okay," his dad pats his arm, "Still doesn't taste the same."

"That's because it's good for you," Paul's here now and sits down, "Though my doctor has been on at me about changing my diet, perhaps we could suffer together?"

"Deal," dad agrees and then conversation moves on to other things.

Vi manages to shine and take up most of the attention, Kurt can see her turning into quite the little Diva as she grows up. Penny seems fine with most of her behaviour but pulls her back from anything too extreme.

After dinner Kurt volunteers to help Anton clear up and he takes his time to look around the modern kitchen with it's many gadgets and almost salivates at what he can make.

"They weren't kidding, you do like to cook," Anton's leaning against a counter sipping coffee.

"If I'm in the right frame of mind it's very soothing," Kurt agrees, "If not I can turn into a stress bunny and explode over anyone that says anything."

Laughing the man nods, "Yes when things go wrong it can be stressful," but nothing about Anton seems stressful or hassled, the red haired man always seems to be put together, though Kurt knows how much effort can go into something so simple, his own skin care routines and outfit choosing have taught him that.

"Anton?" Kurt asks hoping the man will say yes.

"Hmm," Anton's putting away a few saucepans.

"Karofsky gave me a really big room to turn into a closet," he starts hesitantly.

"I know," the man says and shoots him a look, "It was something he was adamant about, he called you a 'fancy butterfly that was creative and shit' so you'd need your own special place to fill with nice pretty things," Kurt's jaw has dropped and he's not sure if he should be insulted or flattered, "And then he said you're more pretty than anything you could put in that room."

And now Kurt's blushing, "Um…" He has no idea how to deal with that side of their mating and flounders.

Smirking Anton says, "You're blushing," which makes things worse, "Sorry Kurt, I shouldn't tease, I know from experience the first part of mating can be difficult and they don't make things easy for us, after all they aren't human and don't always understand, just don't screw up your end and it'll be fine. Now you mentioned the room?"

"Yes," Mentally scrambling Kurt gets himself under control and files Anton's words away for later, "I've only ever had a smaller wardrobe, I've never designed one so big, I didn't know if you had any ideas."

Anton's whole face lights up, "You want some input," Kurt nods and then Anton is doing a dance, "Yes, I was allowed to give direction to the agency when they did this place up, but the only one I got to do myself was mine and Kitty's. Let me grab a pad, a pencil and a measuring tape, I'll see you up there," and the man runs out of the room.

"Oh dear," biting his lip Kurt wonders what he's just unleashed, at least any ideas Anton has should be tasteful.

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><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.


	16. Chapter 16

Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed Chapter 15<strong>

Driving home Kurt relaxes as he puts distance between himself and that place, he can't believe it's already been two weeks since he moved in with Karofsky, Glee practice is horrendous and Rachel stole the solo until Mr Schue grew a backbone and gave it to Santana who killed her audition dead.

He's starting to feel hopeful about the competition; they're shaking things up and taking the threat of the Warblers and Blaine seriously. God Kurt's looking forward to the competition so he can see Blaine again, they've not spoken since Karofsky got expelled and all this crazy landed right in Kurt's lap.

Glancing over to the passenger seat, he sees the Cursed boy in question is sitting quietly and looking out of the window calmly.

Considering they're mates and live in the same set of rooms, that they even share a bed, they've not had a lot to do with each other. Karofsky is usually doing homework, or babysitting Violet so her parents can have a date night, and he hangs around Finn and Puck playing video games a lot.

Kurt doesn't feel left out or ignored, Karofsky is always happy if Kurt joins him in anything but the boy doesn't push Kurt to do anything either. And Kurt's been busy with his project of his giant wardrobe, Anton has so many ideas it's hard to decide what to go with. His girls have taken up some of his time and this whole mates arrangement is so much better than he ever thought it could be.

He had to track Puck down and ask about Karofsky's diet because he chickened out of asking Paul, and even knowing he's a carnivore who hunts down Bambi's mom and little Thumper rabbits doesn't upset Kurt, because Karofsky only eats to survive and then only once every five days or so.

Plus Kurt's not actually seen the act so he can pretend that Karofsky runs to the store and buys the pre-packaged stuff.

Pulling into the garage Kurt jumps out of his baby happy and pleased, he has the weekend ahead of him and the whole of the Glee club are coming over for a pre-show swim, the other Cursed residence are happy with it and have offered to turn on the wave machine in the pool with the extra deep sides. Marcus and Kitty have even volunteered to act as lifeguards for them to make sure the teens are safe.

Walking across the gravel with Karofsky, Kurt hums under his breath, he's also resumed singing in the shower and he's putting weight back on in muscle in all the right places. His ass has never looked this good.

Honestly his life is really amazing, there's very little that could make it more perfect right now.

They climb the steps together and Kurt dances forward to grab the door, he makes an exaggerated flourish and Karofsky says, "Thanks," as he ambles through that predatory grace on show.

"You're welcome," Kurt singsongs and dances in himself.

Karofsky tilts his head and asks, "You want me to take your bag up? I know you said you were gonna plan snacks for this weekend with Anton and Carole."

And this is another example of Karofsky being so easy to live with, "Yes, thank you," he digs in his bag and takes out his notebook with lists of food and who's allergic to what and hands his bag over.

He's starting to like this bit and watches in fascination as Karofsky leaps up from floor to floor and vanishes over the top balcony. Shaking his head and smiling Kurt flounces off to find Anton and Carole, there are things to plan and he has colour-coded charts to fill in.

Running to their den Dave collapses on the bed and stifles his sigh, Kurt might not have good enough hearing but he's not chancing a fucking thing right now.

Things are beyond good and Kurt's giving off that happy smell that makes Dave's head reel, he's not going to screw this up. It's been two unbelievably long weeks and he's glad it's the weekend, though he can't even escape that Berry chick here because she's coming over on Sunday and they are having a 'Pool bonding day' which is a bunch of crap and the kids just wanna use the pool.

Dave had to beg and threaten and use dad to make the others give in and let the Glee disaster happen here. Marcus and Kitty are still giving him hell about mom forcing them to act like lifeguards for the day.

Getting up he puts their bags in the study and goes to sit on the seat and stare out over the gardens, he'll leave Kurt to plan and do the things the teen likes to do, then Dave is going to put his new attempt to get Kurt to accept the mating into action.

So far all the mates and Cursed were hopeful that everything was going well and Dave's certain this is going to move things along nicely. He's staving off Heat by starving himself slightly and stressing himself out, he's starting to wear thin and if he can just get Kurt a bit more settled he'll go into Heat secure in the knowledge that Kurt won't stray while Dave's all hormonal and vulnerable.

A flock of birds wheel across the sky and his eyes automatically track them, he wishes he could go out and play but he has to wait for his mate to finish dinner, and then maybe they can have an evening of watching TV, Dave is fine with being in his mate's family den as Kurt curls up next to Burt and they talk about the car program where old car's are restored to new. Humans can be clever with things like that.

Listening hard Dave can hear dinner being served. He gives them twenty minutes and then drifts down through the den to hover outside, not long now and he can spring his surprise on his mate.

As usual Anton's cooking is exquisite and Kurt eats everything on his plate, even his dad finishes it all and doesn't complain over the healthiness of the meal.

"Wonderful," Carole compliments the red head who waves it off.

It's Finn's turn to wash up and Kurt smiles as he sees his brother sneak a bit more quiche on his way to the sink.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Karofsky amble in and the boy's eyes are glinting gold, "Um Kurt?" The boy asks.

"Yes?" And he wonders what he wants.

"I, er, well you see, I have something I'd like to show you, if you have time?" And there's this sweet smile on Karofsky face.

"Sure," Kurt's answer is immediate, he's not afraid that Karofsky's going to hurt him anymore and he asks, "Right now?"

"Yeah," is the quiet reply.

"Okay," he gathers his things and slips off of his chair, "Anton, that was lovely, thank you so much."

"It's fine, though I'm expecting you to spill on the cinnamon infusion for your apple pie," Anton grins and gives him a thumbs up.

"Maybe," Kurt says coyly and walks out with Karofsky, he has his notebook under his arm and hums absently. They turn down a corridor he's not explored yet and then Karofsky has him stop and wait.

"Err, I don't suppose you'd consider closing your eyes would you?" Karofsky's eyes are shining gold with no brown showing now and Kurt decides to indulge him by closing them. "And can I take your right hand?" Obediently Kurt holds it out, a warm hand gently cradles it as he hears a door open and then he's tugged forward.

"Right you can open them now," and Kurt does to stand stock still in shock at the room.

Nervously Dave stands there and listens to his mate's heart speed stutter and then start up again though much faster than normal. God he can't believe he's taking romance lesson from Vi, but the kid is smart and she understands humans. Kurt liked the giant wardrobe room for all his pretty things and Kurt likes singing, so he should like this room.

Originally it was a music room that doubled as a small intimate ballroom, though when this place had been rebuilt Anton had gone nuts about putting mirrored panels down one side and installing a bar saying it was a good investment. And he'd screamed the place down to make sure the 'acoustics' all worked properly, all Dave knows is the agents sighed a lot and grumbled but they did it and Kitty was happy that her mate was so happy with the result.

"Oh my god," Kurt whispers and seems drawn forward to the far end where a small stage had been built, it even has a little changing area off to one side, working curtains and there had been talk about scenery changes and stuff.

His mate floats down the room and Dave's eyes are glued to that ass, damn he thinks Kurt's been putting on weight because he's filling out those jeans he prefers and Dave's been hard pressed not to try and fondle it. And when Kurt sways it from side to side Dave swallows a groan and mentally chants about waiting and making Kurt happy first.

He's seen first hand that mating with humans is strange, that they mate with words and emotions and shit like that, then they mate physically. Humans that do it the other way have a very low chance of staying together.

Urgh why did humans have to be so weird?

He stands in the middle of the room and gets to see Kurt flit about the stage checking things and occasionally exclaiming with the odd clap of hands. Kurt tends to hold himself in during the day, it's only when he's totally relaxed that he lets himself go like this, it's nice to see and the scent of his mate drifts in the room and Dave knows he's started to purr.

Dancing about on the stage Kurt gloats to himself that this is better than the one Rachel is always boasting about in her basement. He can't wait to show it to her and see her face, he'll be magnanimous in his victory and won't rub it in but they'll both know he's won.

It's perfect and he tries out the acoustics to see what the mirrored wall with ballet bar does to the room. Taking a breath he opens his mouth to sing a verse from Evita and the acoustics are perfect, absolutely perfect, and he can't help singing the whole song.

When he finishes he basks in the imagined applause and instead notices the sound of purring, it's coming from Karofsky who's got a sappy look on his face. Uncertain Kurt flushes and smiles at the boy, "It's perfect," he waves his hands at the room.

"Yes, yes you are…" Karofsky blinks and stops purring, "I mean the room, the room is perfect," but Kurt's already heard him and there's a swoop in his stomach, "Um, Anton did a lot with it when it was being built, he was really into the sounds and stuff."

"Well he got the builders to do a wonderful job," Kurt saunters and struts towards the Cursed boy, "Karofsky thank you, thank you for offering this room to the Glee club, I know we're going to…"

"What?" Karofsky interrupts, "This room's for you Kurt," and his stomach swoops again, "You love singing and you sound amazing when you sing, you should, you know, sing more and practice and stuff."

"Oh!" Biting his lip Kurt glances up shyly at Karofsky, the boy was acting flustered and right at this moment in time Kurt gets a glimpse of what their lives could be like together, Paul hadn't been lying when he'd gone on about Cursed trying to make their human mates happy, they just weren't normally very good at it. "Thank you, I like it, a lot."

"Really?" The boy looks so hopeful that Kurt nods, "Great, that's great. Did you want to watch that restoration program with your dad? You said they were doing a James Bond car…"

Laughing at Karofsky's description Kurt nods, "Yes, I'd like that."

Dave wants to howl, he's done it, he's made his mate happy. Kurt's smiling and humming again, he even follows his mate into the lift to get more of the happy scent.

He also owes Vi an ice-cream for this, the kid had taken that Disney film with the Beast in it and used it to get Kurt to start falling in love with him. Okay so in the film it was a library, but dad has that, and Kurt was into singing so it worked out well.

Settling on the sofa where he normally sits he tries to tone down his purring but when Kurt and Burt both squeeze onto the sofa too, they end up pushing Kurt against him and he can't hold the purr back.

But the purr doesn't seem to be annoying Kurt, the boy glances at him and smiles before getting himself comfortable and discussing cars with Burt.

This is a major break through, Dave's sure of it, all they have to do is survive this weekend and the Glee pool massacre, it's Glee so it's going to go wrong somehow, probably with a sing off and some dancing, and then they'll beat the Garglers, as Puck calls them.

He has a niggle of worry over that Blaine boy being there, but there's no reason for Kurt to talk to the over gelled kid, then Dave can finally go into Heat and everything's going to work out fine.

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><p>AN: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.


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